Efforts by road construction workers in conjunction with illegal toll collectors to prolong the construction work along the Under Bridge – Fagbems end of the Apapa-Oshodi expressway was foiled by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko.

The elongation would have given some security operatives and their civilian collaborators the opportunity for extortions continued extortion of truck drivers while sustaining the traffic gridlock.

Vanguard gathered that rather than start work from the Sunrise end of the road, officials of the construction company had moved their work to the Cele end of the road while presenting pictures of completed areas of the road to the management as the Sunrise end.

Vanguard gathered that the intervention of Bello-Koko led to the speed up of construction work at Lot-2 which is from Sunrise to Cele bus stop of the Tin-can – Oshodi expressway in March this year.

Following complaints by the management of the Tin-can Island port in late February 2022, the NPA boss who was in Abuja at the time, had instructed the Port Manager to present him with evidence that works on Sunrise end had not been done.  

The port management had gathered all the terminal operators of the port on a tour of the route where pictures and videos were taken and then forwarded to the NPA helmsman who in turn took the evidence to the then Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amechi.

Vanguard learnt that the minister in the company of the Bello-Koko had gone to see Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who in turn summoned the top management of the construction company. 

The construction company management had insisted that the Sunrise to Fagbems end of the road had been completed until the evidence were presented to them. Based on the evidence, the management mobilised its workforce to site, explaining why there was a rush in construction of that area of the road in the last few months.

Vandalisation of Dangote Quarry site in Osun State has slowed down the pace of work at the Sunrise-Fagbems end of the road after construction work picked in March following the intervention of   Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo.

Recall that the Chairman, Policy and Practice Committee of Nigerian Ports Consultative Council, NPCC, Okechukwu Vincent, said recently that the Council met with the management of HITECH Construction Company, the subcontractor handling the project, noting that the company confirmed the case of theft at the quarry.

Vincent said that the Council was disturbed at the suffering of port users due to none completion of the road project, and the blockage of the already completed portion of the Tin-Can port area to Sunrise axis.