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Lagos State Scenery Of Flesh And Blood Suckers By Ettu Mohammed

March 4, 2020

The project was for the rehabilitation and upgrade of 49km of existing two-lane dual carriageway to a three-lane highway, the introduction of three toll plazas (with a maximum 22 lanes/plaza) and the construction of a new 20km highway along the south coast of the Epe peninsula.

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The Lekki-Epe Expressway was constructed by the Lateef Jakande administration in the 1980s but was finally completed by the Mudashiru Lawal and Mike Akhigbe administration in 1987.

The Bola Tinubu administration put forward an audacious PPP, which led to the pioneering of a 30-year Lekki-Epe Expressway Toll Road Concession, Nigeria's first ever Public Private Partnership project. 

The project was for the rehabilitation and upgrade of 49km of existing two-lane dual carriageway to a three-lane highway, the introduction of three toll plazas (with a maximum 22 lanes/plaza) and the construction of a new 20km highway along the south coast of the Epe peninsula. 

The concession was valued at N55bn for a period of 30 years, which was inclusive of road maintenance and other hidden cost. This cost excluded toll collection for 30 years, which would be in the excess of N400bn if it ran for 30 years. 

The initial concession agreement was signed on April 24, 2006. In 2008, Mr. Fashola signed supplemental agreements with LCC, enabling the firm to access long term funding for the construction.

Later that year, LCC got N50bn long-term financing lifeline from local and international financial institutions. 

Work started in 2008 and by December 2011, toll collection kicked off at an average of N120/vehicle with over 140,000 cars plying this road on a daily basis and “rumours” has it that N33m was recouped everyday from toll collection.

Reports also have it that over 1000 vehicles ply the road every 10 minutes. “This therefore means that over 6000 vehicles use the road every one hour, and that LCC collects tolls from nothing less than 140,000 thousand vehicles every day as at 2012. I believe it would be in the range of 200,000 vehicles.

In November 2013, the Lagos State Government decided to reacquire the concession rights on the project at an estimated N25.3bn after N35bn was reported to have been spent on the construction of 30 per cent of the project. LCC cashed home N25.3bn of tax payer funds. 

As I write over 144,000 cars ply that road daily an average cost of N250/vehicle

That is over N36m daily for 365days and over N13bn annually if all things go as planned. 

The question then is this: Since December 18, 2011 when tolling commenced, how much has LCC recouped so far?  

This is excluding other revenues accruing from advertisements, concessions of right of ways, etc. 

This is for a 49km road that has not gotten beyond Ajah area since 2011. 

“The Lagos State Government contracted us into slavery to LCC and its sponsors and paid them N25.4bn and we were okay.”

I am tempted to say the original slave masters were not this wicked. 

May God deliver whoever is throwing Lagosians  into monumental debt.