From Isaac Anumihe, Abuja
As the Muhammadu Buhari administration winds up, it has vowed to commission the 2nd Niger Bridge and section 2 and 3 of the Abuja – Kano Expressway before it leaves office on May 29.
Giving the assurance in Abuja, during the inspection tour of the road by the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari expressed satisfaction with the work done.
“Both section 2 and 3 will be completed and ready for commissioning by President Muhammadu Buhari before the end of the tenure of his administration,” Gambari said.
He disclosed that another legacy project of the president, the 2nd Niger Bridge will also be commissioned by the president before he leaves office. He recalled that the bridge had been opened for road users during the last Christmas season to ease the hardship that people had suffered for years now.
The CoS praised the president for his outstanding and commendable commitment to infrastructural development across the country.
“We want to commend Mr President for making the resources available so that this kind of progress can be made,” he said.
Earlier, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola had explained that section 3 of the road which is from Kaduna to Kano is 137 kilometres. This, he acknowledged, is longer than the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway which is 127 kilometres while section 2 of the road which stretches from Zaria to Kaduna is 73 kilometres.
He added that though the Lagos – Ibadan Expressway started earlier, both projects are being completed around the same time.
On why work on the section 1 of the road which is from Abuja to Zaria was not progressing like the other two, the Minister attributed the reasons to criminal activities which stalled the work for about a year in 2022. Another issue is about right of way because of the need to relocate buildings, markets, electricity installations, utilities all of which must be addressed before the contractor can do his job.
He said that work on that section of the road was ongoing just as the required collaboration between the Ministry and the Federal Capital Territory Minister and the governors of Niger and Kaduna states whose territories are connected to the 265 kilometres road is going on.
Fashola gave the assurance that the section will be completed by the next administration as soon as possible as funding which is being provided by the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) is readily available.
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, Mr Aminu Umar Sadiq, affirmed his organisation’s commitment and readiness to provide the funding for the project.