• N6bn for 3rd mainland bridge maintenance • Reviews old Enugu-Onitsha road contract by N17bn

 

From Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja

The Federal Executive Council (FEC), presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, approved three memoranda, amounting to N18,544,797,176 billion for works and purchase of operational vehicles for the Nigerian Customs Service.

Minister of State for Budget and National Planning, Clem Agba, who briefed State House Correspondents at the end of a meeting, said the work has to do with the restructuring of the auditorium of the service’s headquarters as well as the operational vehicles, 337 units in number, are aimed at easing work environment and to protect the personnel, motivate them and to allow them to do their job efficiently, especially across very difficult terrains.  

Also, Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, said the approved N6.28 billion is for the surface maintenance of the third mainland bridge in Lagos State. 

He said the 24-month repair will cover 11 kilometres, including interchanges, ramps, and critical links. 

He said this was in line with Executive Order 11 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in April 2022, which gave legal backing to the country’s national maintenance policy.

The approval came barely two weeks after the Lagos State government said it would undertake rehabilitation works on the 32-year-old bridge to repair failed and peeled asphaltic sections and substructure. 

However, Fashola assured there will be no duplication of efforts.

Fashola said the state’s Public Works Corporation will focus on the functional structure of the bridge such as the underwater piles, while the Federal Government will undertake surface maintenance to treat potholes and restore missing guard rails.

He said: “Council approved a fresh contract for the maintenance of the pavement of the third mainland bridge and this was approved in the sum of N6.28 billion for a period of 24 months.

“I have been asked about the works that have been done on the bridge before. The works are concentrating largely on the substructure of the bridge; the underwater piles, the pile caps and also the replacement of the expansion joints and the bearings,” he said.