Abuja’s Murtala Muhammed Way Not Renamed After Soyinka, Federal Gov’t Clarifies

The Federal Government has refuted rumours circulating that the Murtala Muhammed Expressway in Abuja has been renamed after Nigeria’s Nobel Laureate to be called Wole Soyinka Way.

In a statement on Sunday in Abuja, Minister of Information and National Orientation, Muhammed Idris, clarified that the administration has never considered renaming the Expressway.

“For the record, on June 4, 2024, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a new road in the FCT, codenamed Arterial Road N20 (from Katampe to Jahi). This new road links the existing Outer Northern Expressway (Murtala Muhammed Expressway) to the Northern Parkway (Ahmadu Bello Way).

“During the inauguration, FCT Minister Barrister Nyesom Wike proposed to the President that this new road be named after Prof. Wole Soyinka, and the President agreed,” he said.

He emphasised that only Arterial Road N20 has been named after Prof. Wole Soyinka, and the Murtala Muhammed Expressway retains its original name in honor of former Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed.

“We urge all citizens to disregard any misinformation regarding the renaming of the Murtala Mohammed Expressway. The report is entirely false and exists only in the imagination of its purveyors,” he said.