TVCE (ABUJA) – The Federal Government has slashed its budget for the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway from N66bn to N50bn in the 2016 Appropriation Bill, representing a drop of 24 per cent.

The West Africa’s busiest highway is currently under construction by two contractors, Julius Berger Plc and Reynolds Construction Company (Nigeria) Limited and are being owed several billions of naira for the job executed.

But not more than N50bn has been raised by the government for the N167bn road project, which is expected to be completed next year.

In the initial budget for 2016 presented to the National Assembly by President Muhammad Buhari, N66bn was voted for the highway among other road projects.

A total of N244.123bn has been earmarked for the construction and provision of road facilities across the country in the reviewed 2016 Appropriation Bill.

With this development, it is not certain if the completion deadline of 2017 will be feasible.