Umahi lists completed roads, bridges under Tinubu

The Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, has listed federal roads and bridges completed under the administration of President Bola Tinubu and awaiting commissioning across the six geopolitical zones.

Umahi disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja at a press conference on the four legacy road projects, ongoing interventions and completed projects being executed by the ministry.

The minister said the administration had moved from planning to delivery, with several major road corridors either completed or at advanced stages of construction.

According to him, the four legacy projects — the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, Calabar-Ebonyi-Abuja Trans-Saharan corridor and the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri dualisation — were strategic investments aimed at connecting the six geopolitical zones and driving economic growth.

Coastal highway

Giving an update on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Umahi said Section I, covering 47 kilometres, had been completed, while Section II, spanning about 55 kilometres, was nearing completion, with major flyovers, overpasses and underpasses incorporated into the project.

He said sections around the Dangote Refinery and Lekki Deep Seaport had been redesigned to integrate rail, road and industrial infrastructure.

The minister explained that the Ondo axis was also redesigned because of difficult terrain and deep pits.

He added that President Tinubu had directed that the continuation of the Coastal Highway be aligned with the existing East-West Road in the Niger Delta, with critical sections raised to address flooding.

On the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, Umahi said construction was progressing in Sokoto, Kebbi, Oyo, Ogun and Badagry, while work on the Niger and Kwara sections would commence soon.

Projects ready for commissioning

Umahi said the strongest evidence of the administration’s delivery was the number of completed projects awaiting commissioning.

“We have quite a lot of projects. We have completed projects and we have ongoing projects. We are updating the compendium and it will be made available on the Ministry’s website,” he said.

Among the projects he listed as completed and ready for commissioning were Section I of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway; 70km of the Kano-Maiduguri Road by Strabag; Kwanar Danja-Hadejia Road; Kaduna-Pambeguwa Road; and 43km of the Keffi-Mararaba Road executed by China Harbour.

Others include the 15km Lafia Bypass on the 260km Makurdi-Numan Road; 7.9km Bodo-Bonny Road, including bridges across the Opobo Channel; and 15km of concrete pavement at Obajana on the Lokoja-Benin corridor.

The minister also listed the 7.5km Danbatta-Demesu dualised road; Gombe-Potiskum rehabilitation; Azare Road linking Jigawa and Bauchi; five-span Apapa Bridge; the 23-span, 23km flyover at Eke Obinagu; and the three-span, 75-metre dualised Tizm Bridge in Enugu.

Other completed projects, according to Umahi, include the 24km Shagamu Interchange to Iperu Junction and sections of the Lagos-Badagry and Lagos-Ibadan-Lagos-Shagamu-Ore corridors.

He also listed the 375km Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Expressway, saying all sections except the Jere-Kaduna section had been completed, while solar lighting was being installed to improve safety along the route.

Umahi said the ministry was enforcing the use of concrete pavement on selected projects to improve durability, following due procurement processes through the Bureau of Public Procurement and the Federal Executive Council.

He added that the ministry had launched “Operation Rescue” on the Benin-Asaba Expressway to restore mobility under a concrete reconstruction plan.