TheCable

The reconstruction of the Apapa-Oworonshoki expressway will start next week, according to Aliko Dangote, whose company has been given a tax waiver to carry out the work.

He told reporters in Abuja on Tuesday that when the reconstruction is completed, it will save the government a daily loss of N10 billion caused by the current state of the road which leads to the nation’s premier ports.

“Apapa-Oworoshoki way is going to start next week. Everything, including the design, has been handed over. We will start work next week,” he said.

“You have to understand that Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports handle about 80 percent of the cargoes that come  into Nigeria.

“As we speak, some of our ships are waiting to come in from Lome and discharge. It is not because we don’t have anywhere to berth the ship but because all our operations are choked up because we have containers, general cargoes that have actually been there and we are not able to remove [them].

“But I am more worried about the smaller operators because for those that have imported, the charges are accumulating everyday. Transport charge has almost doubled.”

The president of Dangote Group was speaking at the end of a government-private sector meeting on how to resolve the Apapa traffic gridlock.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo presided over the meeting.