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You may have read the Mckinsey report on Nigeria's
infrastructure requirement which said that as a
nation, we need to invest over $31 billion every
year for at least ten years for us to bridge our huge
infrastructure decit. If we put that number in perspective,
$31 billion is equivalent to over N11 trillion annually, that is
larger than our national budget for 2020.
This decit occurred because as a nation, we have steadily
reduced how much we spend on building and repairing
infrastructure while increasing how much we spend on
recurring expenditure like payment of salaries. Therefore, if
we are to put our country back on the path of economic
growth, we must strategise on how to increase our spending
on infrastructure.
That is what we are doing here in Oyo State. The twentyone-kilometre
Airport – Ajia – New Ife Express Road with a
spur to Amuloko which we are here to ag-off today, is a
result of our administration coming up with strategic ways of
reducing our infrastructure decit. We call it the Alternative
Project Funding Approach (APFA).
As I explained during the budget signing last week, APFA is
our way of funding some infrastructural projects in the state
by having the contractors fund the projects with their own
money while the state repays them over a period of time.
What this entails is that the contractor carries the projects'
risk. At the same time, we get quality delivery and quick
completion of projects.
And so for projects under the APFA, because of the nature
of spending on the projects, we decided that it would be
best to open up the bidding process a little more so that
contractors outside of Oyo State can bid as well. We
reached this decision because we are looking for private
entities who have the wherewithal to complete the
projects on schedule while at the same time, passing
the tests of quality assurance.
In the case of this twenty-one-kilometre Airport – Ajia –
New Ife Express Road with a spur to Amuloko, the
contract was awarded to Messrs Peculiar Ultimate
Concerns Ltd at a total cost of Eight Billion, Five Hundred
and Twenty Million, Nine Hundred and Nineteen
Thousand, Seven Hundred and Seventy-Six Naira, Forty-
One Kobo (N8,520,919,776.41). We have
given them the mandate to complete the
road in eighteen months, and they
have promised to deliver.
Good people of Oyo State,
the contractors for this
project from neighbouring
Osun State, are willing
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