Work’ll resume soon on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, others – FG

The Federal Government said on Friday that after the lull in activities caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, work would resume soon on over 50 projects spread across 26 states, including the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this in Abuja at a press conference to mark the first year of Buhari’s second term in office.

Mohammed said, “This administration has embarked on a massive infrastructural renewal, the type of which the country had not witnessed since Nigeria’s return to democratic rule in 1999.

“The administration has embarked on infrastructural projects, roads, bridges, rail, power, etc., in all the six geo-political zones. The COVID-19 pandemic may have briefly slowed down activities in this sector, but work is set to resume in over 50 infrastructure projects spread across 26 states.

“These include major projects like the Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Expressway, the Owerri Interchange, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and Port Harcourt-Enugu Expressway.”

On power supply, Mohammed said following an agreement with German company, Siemens, in July 2019 to boost power supply in Nigeria, the stage was set for the nation’s perennial power problem to become a thing of the past.

He said Buhari also took another bold step to put Nigeria on the path to food sufficiency, stem the flow of illicit arms into the country and improve national security, adding that border closure had boosted the production of agricultural produce, especially local rice, tomatoes, pepper and poultry.

On the fight against corruption, the minister said the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission alone recovered assets worth N81.23bn in the last one year.

On the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, he said the commission “secured 1,270 convictions and recovered huge amounts of money within the period under review.

“The 1,270 convictions include high profile ones, such as the liquidation and forfeiture of the P&ID Nigeria Limited to the Federal Government, after the conviction of the company for fraud and tax evasion.”

On the COVID-19 pandemic, Mohammed said but for the right reaction by the Buhari administration, the situation could have been worse.