FEC approves $100m for Lagos urban transport project

The Federal Executive Council on Wednesday approved a request by the Lagos State Government for permission to take a loan of $100m for the execution of the second phase of the Lagos Urban Transport Project, which will run from Mile 2 through Oshodi to Ikorodu.The Federal Government will serve as the guarantor of the loan.The Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, said FEC approved the loan request because of the success recorded by the state government in the first phase of the project.A memo for the approval of the loan submitted at the FEC meeting by the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, sought the councils approval for $100m credit from the French Development Agency for the LUTP 2.Given the successful implementation of LUTP 1, the state government applied to scale up the project through the LUTP 2.The LUTP 1 was implemented using the Bus Rapid Transit mode of transportation in the state.Speaking further on the development, Maku said, Having significantly achieved the development objectives of LUTP 1, which among others, were to reduce travel time and transport fares of passengers plying the BRT routes, with the resultant reduction in household expenditures on transport and poverty alleviation, it was decided to extend the scheme to other parts of the state, with a view to increasing the number of direct beneficiaries.
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