TheCable

Tokunbo Abiru, candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Lagos east senatorial bye-election, says the Eti-Osa-Lekki-Epe expressway reconstruction project will have a greater multiplier effect on Lagos economy.

Abiru also said the deferment of Lagos east senatorial bye-election shows a lot of sensitivity to the youth agitation against police brutality.

He made the remarks on Sunday when Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, flagged off the reconstruction project, dissecting benefits its execution would have on the economy and people of the state.

Sanwo-Olu had flagged off the reconstruction project four decades after it was originally constructed by the administration of the state’s first civilian governor, Alhaji Lateef Jakande.

Sanwo-Olu had promised that the first phase of the road project, which will cover 18.75 kilometres from Eleko to T-Junction in Epe, would be completed in 20 months.

After the flag-off on Sunday, Abiru said the reconstruction of Lekki-Epe expressway “is a monumental achievement for Lagos State and particularly for Lagos East Senatorial District.”

Abiru, an economist and chartered accountant who spent 32 years in the private sector, noted that the road reconstruction “will harness the opportunities that we see around here, especially within the Ibeju-Lekki Belt.

“This is where we have the Deep Sea Port. We also have Dangote Refinery and many other companies. For all these companies around this belt, a road of this magnitude will enable us harness the opportunities that we see,” he said.

“The linkages we are going to derive and the economy of what is going to come up are in terms of business activities and employment opportunities for most people around. This belt will be significant.”

“Its completion will open up this environment and other opportunities we see around the industrial arena here, even rising up to Epe (and to formally optimise the major road networks the last administration did in Epe).”