Lagos Govt sets December deadline for preferred bidder
By Ibrahim Adebayo
Having shortlisted bidders for the construction of the $2.5b 4th Mainland Bridge, the Governor Babajide Sanwoolu led Lagos state government has disclosed that its preferred construction company will be announced in December.
The shortlisted bidders, as announced by a Senior Special Assistant to the state governor, on behalf of the government, on Sunday, are Portugal’s Mota-Engil which is partnering with China Communication and Construction Corporation and China Road and Bridge Corporation in the bid.
China Gezhouba Group Company and China Geo-Engineering Corporation joint venture and a consortium led by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation are the two other shortlisted bidders.
The Lagos government clarified that the 38-kilometer-long Bridge, originally conceived and laid out by the state’s most purposeful erstwhile governor and now the nation’s foremost presidential candidate and revered national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2023 general election, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will be built under a public-private partnership and it is expected to further ease vehicular movement in the country’s economic nerve center.
The government disclosed that the iconic bridge will include three toll plazas, nine interchanges and a design speed of 120 kilometers per hour.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Private Public Partnership (PPP), Ope George gave an elucidation that the 4th Mainland Bridge is a proposed Public Private Partnership transportation infrastructure development that includes the construction and operation of a greenfield tolled road and bridge with a design speed of 120 km/h, including the development of adjacent real estates.
As conceptualized by Tinubu, the bridge is expected to become the 2nd longest in Africa, featuring three toll plazas, 9 interchanges, a 4.5km lagoon bridge and an eco-friendly environment.
This Tinubu’s foresight and original idea 4th Mainland Bridge is also expected to span about 38 kilometers, starting from Abraham Adesanya in Ajah, on the Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe corridor and transverse the North West towards the lagoon shoreline of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway via Owutu/Isawo in Ikorodu.
It aims to relieve vehicular congestion on the existing 3rd Mainland Bridge whilst also, opening new areas for future development. The project is expected to cost Lagos state government a whopping $2.5 billion.
When elected president of the country, there’s no doubt that Nigerians will benefit more from Tinubu’s foresight while Lagosians, after electing Sanwoolu for second term, will also enjoy more from his responsive approach to governance in the state. The days of intractable traffic snarls around the Lekki/Ajah axis are numbered with the realistic coming of the 4th Mainland Bridge.
