Lekki-Epe road: Olu-Adegboruwa accuses Lagos of cover-up

 

A civil rights lawyer, Mr. Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa, has said the Lagos State Government is not sincere with its buy-back of the Lekki-Epe road concession project, alleging the action is meant to rescue the concessionaire, Lekki Construction Company.

He accused the state government of covering up the failure of the LCC to execute the project according to the terms of the concession agreement.

The Lagos State House of Assembly had on August 27 approved a supplementary budget of N7.5bn for the state government to fund the acquisition of the existing concession right of the expressway.

Before the intervention of the government in the project, the LCC was mandated by a 30-year Build, Operate and Transfer agreement to upgrade, expand and maintain the over 49km road (Phase I), and construct another 20km of coastal road (Phase II) along the Lekki corridor.

But Olu-Adegboruwa said, “The reason for the buy-back is that the project has failed. The loan they took to do the project has been wasted and the money they were collecting from the toll was not enough to execute the project. So, the Lagos State Government is only being forced to buy back as a way of covering the nakedness of the LCC.”

The lawyer had sued the state government and the LCC, asking the court to stop the collection of tolls from users of the road.

He requested the Lagos House of Assembly to set up a judicial commission of inquiry to investigate the contract.

He said, “I ask that a judicial commission of inquiry be set up by the House of Assembly to investigate the contract.

“We must know how much has been made since December 18, 2011 when this thing started; how much loan is involved; and then what the commitment of Lagos State to the project is. This is because it has just been discovered that the Lagos State Government obtained a loan of about N6bn from the African Development Bank for this project to start.

“So, if it was Lagos State that gave the initial fund for the project to start, why are we then paying so much?  It then means that LCC has no investment in this project.”

Olu-Adegboruwa also lamented the slow pace of work and the high cost of the project, which he said was the most expensive in the world.

“This is the longest road project in the world. It is a 49km project. As I speak to you, they have not completed up to 20km and this was a project that started in 2003.

“By the estimate of the African Development Bank, at N1.3bn per kilometre, it is the most expensive road project in the world. The cost of this project is N1.3bn per kilometre. That is why I am asking for investigation.”

When asked to react to the allegations, the state Commissioner  for Finance, Mr. Ayodeji Gbeleyi, said he would not speak on them in view of the pending suit.

But he said the government was on the verge of finalising negotiations on the buy-back of the 100 per cent shares of the LCC in the project.

“Negotiations on the 100 per cent shares buy-back are about to be finalised and the implication for the Toll Plaza 3, if any, and toll tariffs will only be determined when the Lagos State Government assumes control.”