Globacom to Rehabilitate Ota-Idiroko Road

By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel

Nigerian multinational telecommunications company, Globalcom Limited, commonly known as Glo, will reconstruct the 64 kilometres (km) Ota-Idiroko road in 2022.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, confirmed this development in a statement issued on Wednesday.

He explained that the road would be rehabilitated by the company under the federal government’s tax credit scheme, adding that the contract, which was first awarded in the year 2000, has now been revived by the administration at the sum of N56 billion.

During the inspection of the ongoing reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, the Minister said, “From Ota to Idiroko, we don’t have a contract there, but Chief Mike Adenuga of Globacom has offered to construct that road using the tax credit system.

“So, that has also started, they are doing the design, and hopefully, by sometime early next year, they should mobilize to site. The real reconstruction is going to happen if we have a deal with Glo.”

He disclosed that the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) has gone to carry out measurements there and will move there from the end of September if the Ogun State Government does two things.

Mr Fashola also added that all the squatters, traders, and settlers on the road will be removed to better the traffic in the area, noting that the state government had committed to assist the federal government to execute this.

After the inspection, the Minister further disclosed that the administration was pulling effort to bring in Flour Mills of Nigeria and Unilever to reconstruct the Badagry link to the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road under the tax credit scheme.

This is coming about a month after the FG said that about 794 kilometres of road have been prioritized for construction by eligible companies through Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.

Under the scheme, some private companies such as Dangote Cement and MTN Nigeria have signed up.

Dangote Cement was awarded a N22.3 billion tax credit certificate to construct Apapa-Oworonshoki-Ojota road in Lagos and the Lokoja-Obajana-Kabba road linking to Kwara state, while MTN Nigeria had announced plans to rehabilitate the Enugu-Onitsha expressway under the scheme.