The Lagos State Government has revealed that the preferred bidder for the much-awaited 4th Mainland Bridge will be announced in the third quarter of this year.
Special Adviser to the Lagos State Government on Works and Infrastructure, Engr Aramide Adeyoye, disclosed this in Lagos at the recent media presentation of the Facts Behind the figures of 2021 on the Lagos State Budget. Also in attendance at the briefing were the state Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Sam Egube; Commissioner for Finance, Rabiu Olowo; Commissioner for Health, Professor Akin Abayomi; Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotosho; Commissioner For Transportation, Frederic Oladeinde and the Commissioner for Education, Folashade Adefisayo.
Aramide added that the state government had so far concluded three out of the six steps in the selection process for the bridge’s preferred bidder, adding that the last stage will be concluded between the second quarter and third quarter of the year.
According to her, the 3rd Mainland Bridge was constructed 30 years ago and that preliminary work ought to have been concluded on the 4th Mainland Bridge.
“One of the things that have not allowed us as a people and a nation to close up on that is the transparency that we have to show if we are getting funding on a PPP basis. We started that process in November 2019, when we gave Expression of Interest request. That way we declared to the whole world that we are going to throw the field open,’’ she said.
According to the Commissioner, “This commenced the selection process. From the 61 people who expressed their offers of interest, we selected 32 and from 32, we selected 6. So we have six at the moment. It is a six-step process. We are in step three of the process. We have seen the EOI, we have seen the analysis and now we have the process where we clarify and ask questions. Then we are in the process of concluding it, where you get proposals from people as to all the alternatives. The 4th Mainland Bridge will be a 38 Kilometer road and bridge section starting from Abraham Adesanya road all across to the lagoon and it is not just Lagos state doing it. We have consultants with us If they have some skills which our people may not have. We have transaction advisers. We have legal and financial advisers to support the government on the project.’’
‘‘So, I am hoping that before the end of the second or third quarter of this year we would be getting to a financial position, where you have your reserved bidder and your preferred bidder. If the preferred bidder has one or two issues, the reserved bidder will come in, so we are not caught in the gap. I want to believe with all the transparency that we have shown, there is no reason why this project should not flow.’’
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has also disclosed that rail services will commence operations in 2022 and that it had secured a single-digit interest rate funding deal for the Red Rail Line that is scheduled to commence operations by the third quarter of next year, along with the Blue Rail segment of the Lines.