Tinubu Approves Demolition & Reconstruction of 125 Year Old Lagos Bridge

President Bola Tinubu led Federal Executive Council (FEC) on Wednesday March 4, 2026 approved critical road construction infrastructure around the country.

One of the roads, approved for reconstruction, is the Carter Bridge which is the oldest of the three bridges linking Lagos Mainland with Lagos Island.

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, made this known to the press after the FEC meeting. He highlighted that the Ministry has gotten approval for the design cost for the total review and reconstruction of the Carter Bridge.

Umahi added that the Ministry had earlier undergone stakeholder engagement, and the recommendation was that the Carter Bridge was beyond rehabilitation and must be demolished and reconstructed.

The FEC also approved ₦5 billion for the hiring of a firm that will carry out the design and develop the blueprint for the construction of the Carter Bridge, which is expected to gulp up a whopping nearly ₦400 billion as the cost of the total project.

The construction of the Carter Bridge built in 1901 was the only bridge connection between the mainland and Lagos Island until the Eko Beidge and the Third Mainland bridge were constructed.

The Carter Bridge, named after the former governor of the Colony of Lagos state, starts from Sir Gillbert Thomas Carter starts from Iddo on the mainland and ends at Idumota on Lagos Island.

The Bride was dismantled, redesigned, and rebuilt rehabilitation between 1970 and 1973 by the Military Government of General Yakubu Gowon.

Other major road infrastructure approved for construction around the country includes the 103KM dual carriageway Ibadan–Ife–Ilesa, whose reconstruction was awarded for ₦427 billion.

The 132KM three-lane Kano–Kongolam carriageway was approved for ₦334 billion, while the second phase of the rehabilitation of 129KM Keffi–Nasarawa–Abaji Road was approved for ₦203 billion.

Also approved was the completion of remaining 71KM dual Suleja–Minna carriageway for ₦91 billion and the reconstruction of a 86KM section of the Abuja-Lokoja road for ₦146 billion.

These road constructions add to a list of ongoing road infrastructure development by the Tinubu regime, which in 2023 kicked off the construction of the highly controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which costs a whooping ₦7.5 billion per kilometre.

Since becoming president, Tinubu has been carrying out some economic reforms, like the removal of the fuel subsidy, which he had vehemently opposed in 2012 as a member of the opposition party when former President Goodluck Jonathan attempted a gradual removal of the subsidy.

10 years later, Tinubu would make the removal of fuel subsidy his first act in office after he was sworn in May 2023. He described the reforms as "painful but necessary" and promised to use the money saved from the removal to invest in key sectors and develop national infrastructure.

Tinubu will be funding the road infrastructure through the savings from his economic reforms, which will boost revenue with a mix of foreign loans and public-private partnerships (PPP).