The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola has declared that contractors would resume work on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in the coming week.

Fashola revealed this piece of information while speaking at the inaugural Buharimeter Town Hall meeting in Abuja on Thursday while also claiming that contractors left several projects unfinished throughout the country because the previous administration owed them money.

He however, said that although the current government of Muhammadu Buhari is yet to release funds to contractors, they have agreed to return to work on the projects based on the trust they have in the integrity of the new government.

Fashola said, “In 2014, we spent N45bn on roads for the whole country and we spent N18bn on roads in 2015. Now, the fallout of meetings with our contractors generally is that they have not been paid for three years but budgets were made for the last three years.”

“We have been having meetings with some contractors on the basis of our credibility, our collective integrity, saying to them go back to site.”

“Our contractors will go back to site on Monday next week; they have told me they will return to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.”

“They have not been paid but that is what change means, that this government is credible and believable.”

“If we say we will pay, we will pay. And this is what you will see in places like Iheala and a few other places where we are intervening but what is important now is that we have met with all our contractors and identified contracts that have survived the budget, we have approved those contracts for funding and in the next few days to weeks, the disbursement will start for many of the roads.”

Adebayo Emuleomo