Without going too far into history, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has been under reconstruction and rehabilitation since the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan. In 2013, the Jonathan administration took a bold step to begin the reconstruction and expansion of the 127.6-kilometer-long expressway. When President Muhammadu Buhari took over in 2015, the same road project became a major priority of his administration. Yet again, when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came into office in 2023, the priority given to the road continued. This means that for 13 years now, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway has been part of our national budget.
Nigeria’s federal government budget has come under serious scrutiny by critics in recent times. This is because all manner of abnormalities and irregularities have been revealed, which among many others, include budget padding, duplication of items in the same budget, allocation of huge funds to fictitious agency, allocation of huge funds again to places of religious worship in a nation whose Constitution says is a secular state, allocation of huge sums of money yet again to refurbishing traditional rulers’ palaces, and lastly, insertion projects into the budgets of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) whose mandates have nothing to do whatsoever with such projects.
More than ever before, critics have continued scrutinizing and questioning things that they previously ignored. Public scrutiny has also increased as a result of the mind-boggling corruption exposed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC). The forfeitures of ill-gotten wealth reveal the high level of systematic corruption in Nigeria. This has again made critics more curious about how a particular road project involving huge capital outlays would continue to remain in the budget for so long a time. And to make matters even worse, a new approval for a total reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway using concrete pavement has been given by President Tinubu. Critics are asking why this particular road again?
Well, for example, over a decade, some federal roads have continuously remained on the budget for one reason or the other, and some justifiably so. And this has happened across administrations and different political parties. For example, some important federal roads such as the Abuja-Lokoja-Okene-Benin, Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano, Onitsha-Benin-Ore-Ijebu-Ode-Sagamu, and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, have remained on federal government capital outlays for one reason or the other for years. This article interrogates this situation with a focus on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, which is the shortest (only 127.6 kilometers) among these listed dual carriageways. How on earth, for example, would a road of such a short distance be costing us huge capital expenditure under successive administrations for 13 years?
As the Premium Times (July 5, 2013) rightly documented, President Goodluck Jonathan flagged off the reconstruction and expansion works on the road in 2013 at the cost of N167 billion. The project was awarded to construction giant Julius Berger Nigeria Plc for section 1 (Lagos to Sagamu Interchange), and Reynolds Construction Company Limited for section 2 (Sagamu Interchange to Ibadan. The completion date was within two years.
Then in 2016, the Buhari administration re-mobilized contractors and expanded the project to include additional features like flyovers and underpasses. Although the contractors were said to be owed several billions of Naira for the work already done, the actual amount owed was not specified, and if they did, this writer did not see it when preparing this article. The 2016 Appropriation Bill under President Buhari proposed N66 billion, which was later revised to N50 billion.
Shockingly in 2019, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported the Federal Controller of Works in Lagos as saying that the construction work on the road was still 40% completed. The reason for this was that the Buhari administration added new features such as underpasses, footbridges, flyovers, toll plazas, and expansion. As a result of all these, the completion date was shifted. This justified to the administration why the expressway should continue to be budgeted for subsequently.
Furthermore, by November 23, 2020, the then Minister of Works and Housing reassured Nigerians that the Federal government was committed to completing the road project. He actually said that the ‘government will complete the road project even if oil price drops to zero.’ (See http://fmw.gov.ng/read/2289). And contractors handling both sections of the project promised to deliver them during the third quarter of 2022, which was the new scheduled date.
Surprisingly, the 2023 Appropriation Bill prepared under the Buhari administration still had the Lagos-Ibadan expressway even though the administration reported that appreciable progress had been made. What delayed the completion date again, one may ask? One thought the report should be talking of its completion by the end of 2022, but this was not to be. As the Punch newspaper reported, President Buhari expressed the hope to commission the project (among other ones) before the end of his tenure in 2023. This hope, as we know, did not materialize, and Nigerians were not told why he failed to deliver on his promise.
When the Tinubu administration assumed office, the Lagos-Ibadan expressway was also made a priority. The administration continued with the provision of funds towards its ‘completion.’ As THISDAY newspaper of November 2025 reported, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved additional funding of over N43 billion for the completion of the project. According to the Minister of Works, Engr. Dave Umahi, ‘the fresh approval covers additional works including flyovers, underpasses, and adjoining roads that were not captured in earlier phases.’ As we noted earlier, in 2019 under the Buhari administration, these same reasons were given for shifting the date of completion of the project. Are we now running in circles with an endless list of additional features?
The more shocking news that actually provoked the writing of this article was the announcement by the Minister of Works, Engr. Umahi that President Tinubu has approved the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway with reinforced concrete pavement (See TheCable, July 17, 2026). A brand new reason, completely different from the previous ones, was now given to justify keeping the same road project in the budget for thirteen years running and still counting. A child born 13 years ago along this road corridor (and who is now hopefully in JSS 3), would be wondering if this road is suffering from a man-made problem or a spiritually afflicted one. But according to the minister, the presidential approval ‘is in line with the ministry’s preference for reinforced concrete pavement over asphalt on major highways to ensure durability.’ The ‘existing asphalt pavement,’ he added, ‘has repeatedly failed despite maintenance works.’ He then concluded that ‘the answer is to reconstruct it using reinforced concrete pavement that will last between 50 and 100 years, maintenance-free.’
Although I totally agree with the minister that the reinforced concrete pavement is the way to go, I disagree that it should start immediately with the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway when Nigerians have not fully enjoyed the benefits of the work just carried out by the two construction giants. If we go by the logic (although sound) that the reinforced concrete pavement is the way to go, can Nigeria afford to start reconstructing all the other dual carriageways in the country? Definitely not, as the economy cannot afford to carry such a huge burden presently.
As a way of recommendation, it would be more appropriate to start using the reinforced concrete pavement on some new and shorter federal highways than on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. This would have enabled Nigerians to enjoy the benefits of the huge sums of money spent on this major dual carriageway. If a new reconstruction of the road starts again with the approved concrete pavement, critics would simply term the continued expenditure on the road as a fiscal sinkhole. It would also appear as if the government is not sensitive to the economic hardship that Nigerians are facing.
Prof. Obasi, a public policy expert, is of the Department of Public Administration at the University of Abuja (now Yakubu Gowon University)
