2nd Niger Bridge Now Completed, Says Fashola

Minister of works and housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola has said the construction of the Second Niger Bridge has been completed and would soon be opened for public use.

Fashola stated this yesterday at the unveiling of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s scorecard series (2015-2023) in Abuja.

He said, “Second Niger Bridge has been completed, what is remaining is a 4km interchange road at the Asaba end and 2km out of a 7km link road at the Onitsha end.

“The first thing we did when we came into power was to expand our budget on road infrastructure, sought alternative sources of funding through SUKUK, Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme,” Fashola said.

The bridge, which was conceived years ago before the Buhari administration came on board, became a reality, following the decision of the federal government, through the Ministry of Works and Housing, to ensure that a new bridge is put in place to complement the existing one, which is over 50 years old.

In a previous chat with journalists, Fashola had said the bridge would be ready for use before December.

Listing the achievements of his ministry, Fashola said 12 road projects covering about 896km have been completed, commissioned and handed over to their communities in the season of completion and impact.

He also said the government is executing 83 road rehabilitation projects in federal tertiary institutions across the country with 66 projects completed and 46 commissioned.

“Some of the Super Eagles that were promised houses in 1994 have been allocated their houses. After 28 years, President Muhammmadu Buhari approved it and fulfilled the pledge,” he added.