The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the sum of $45,303,000 for an indepth feasibility study and engineering design for a new transportation route alignment serving the four Western seaports.

During a press briefing following the FEC meeting on Monday, Minister of Transportation Sa’idu Alkali, disclosed that this initiative will connect the Badagry Deep Seaport to Tincan, link Tincan to Apapa, establish connections from the Lekki Seaport to Ijebu-Ode, as well as extending to Kajola and the Lagos-Kano-Maradi railway project.

Alkali added that the goal of this initiative is to bolster economic development by connecting Western ports with the inland regions, which will subsequently boost the nation’s GDP and stimulate economic activity.

He said, “You are all aware transportation is one of the key priority areas of President Tinubu’s administration, and it is an enabler of economic growth.

“So, the Federal Executive Council has granted approval for a detailed feasibility studies and engineering design of a proposed route alignment from Badagry Deep Seaport to Tincan, Tincan to Apapa, Lekki Seaport to Ijebu-Ode and to Kajola. It is at Kajola it will connect with the Lagos to Kano to Maradi Railway Modernisation project.

“The idea is to link the Western ports to the hinterland. As it is, we have only Apapa Port that is linked with a red line. We have a standard gauge inter APMT terminal in Apapa, which we are using for freight from Lagos to Ibadan and we have the old narrow gauge that was rehabilitated, we have put it into use for freight from Lagos to Kano.

“So by the time we are able to link all the four seaports at the Western corridor to the hinterland, it will further grow our GDP and enhance our economic activities. The contract was awarded at the cost of $45,303,000.”