Abuja-Kano expressway to be completed in 14 months, FG assures

The Federal Government has assured that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is extremely determined to see to the completion of the construction of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria -Kano road project timely.

The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Alhaji Mohammed Idris gave the confirmation on Thursday in Niger State, during an inspection visit to the project site.

The Minister was accompanied by Works Minister, Senator Dave Umahi; the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Mpigi Barinada; the Chairman of the House Committee on Works, Hon. Akinola Alabi; and other senior officials of the ministry.
Idris said Tinubu’s commitment to the swift completion of the Expressway has led to the revocation of some sections of the contract previously awarded to Julius Berger Plc and subsequently reassigned to a reputable contractor to expedite the project’s progress and ensure timely delivery.

According to him, “We will not allow any contractor to hold us to ransom on this project or any other project. We do not have the luxury of waiting another three years for this road to be constructed”.

Confirming this assurance, Idris said, “The Minister of Works has said that they’ve set for themselves a target of 14 months, or thereabout, to complete this road.

“And you can see the passion, the enthusiasm, you know, the kind of determination that all of them have. And we do believe that all of them working the way they are doing, they will complete this work in record time.
“For those who are politicising this road project, please keep politics aside. This road is there to be constructed. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is determined that this major artery linking the Federal Capital Territory to Kano and to other States will be completed. Nothing is going to stop it,” he said.

Idris stated that the President had rejected the initial three-year timeline proposed by Julius Berger for completing the project and instead directed that the project be reassigned to another contractor with a revised deadline of 14 months for its completion.

This was contained in a statement released by his aide, the Minister said the project is currently segmented into three sections for ease of work while commended counterpart in Works, for his unwavering commitment to delivering the project.

He noted that the Minister was involved in protracted negotiations with Julius Berger, which lasted 14 months because of the company’s insistence on increasing the contract sum from N797 billion to N1.5 trillion and extending the completion timeline to three years.
“We salute the determination of the Minister of Works, Senator Umahi, the Permanent Secretary, members of his team, the National Assembly, and all other stakeholders.

“And the Minister has said, Nigerians can hold the Ministry accountable; the President has given them every support that they require. In the near future we will have a fully-completed and brand new road linking Abuja to Kano,” he said.

In his remarks, Works Minister, Senator Umahi announced that the Ministry has secured a “No Objection” of N252.89 billion from the Bureau of Public Procurement and would present the contract for ratification at the next setting of the Federal Executive Council.

“I am happy to announce that as at yesterday, we got “No Objection” from BPP for a total of N252.89 billion contract sum and I am very sure that FEC will give us approval at next sitting but let me say that we added 10.6 kilometers.

“Which is at the Kano axis to take the project to Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport and we added another 5 kilometers towards Kogi and also full solar light installation to prepare the entire road for operation and maintenance concessioning,” he said.