Lagos Red Line rail project to be funded by PPP – Ayorinde

The Red Line, which is the second phase of the Lagos State government’s mass transit light rail project, will be funded by a Public Private Partnership (PPP) under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement, and not through any disbursement from the Federal Government.

Steve Ayorinde, Lagos State commissioner for information and strategy, made this known in a press statement issued on Tuesday.

A section of the media had on Monday erroneously reported that the Federal Government had approved $2.4bn for the execution of the project, which is projected to move thousands of people from Alagbado, in the suburb of Lagos to Victoria Island and vice versa, daily.

“We wish to clarify that the approval that was kindly granted Lagos State government is on the right-of-way. The approval does not involve any form of funding from the federal government. There is a preferred bidder to undertake the project through a PPP, BOT arrangement and the Lagos State government is in full discussion with the preferred bidder on how to proceed,” Ayorinde stated.

He added that getting approval for the Right-of-Way for the project had been a problem over the years as previous administrations at the federal level were foot-dragging in granting the approval and in discussing the technicalities for the right-of-way that belongs to the Nigeria Railway Corporation.

Ayorinde noted that the Red Line Rail Project, which will run from Alagbado to Victoria Island, is meant to complement the Blue Line Rail Project which is already being executed in phases: Mile 2 to CMS which is currently being executed and Mile 2 to Okokomaiko, which will be done later. He added that the project would be completed by the end of 2016, as promised by Governor Ambode.

The Commissioner stated that all these are part of the present administration’s determination to tackling the transportation problems faced by Lagosians and make public transportation in the state safe, dependable and accessible.