The Federal Government said it has completed the Loko-Oweto Bridge and the second Niger Bridge and both would be commissioned and handed over before 29th May terminal date of the administration.
Inspecting the completed Loko-oweto road and bridge on Tuesday in Nasarawa State, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola said that the contractors had promised to complete the project by the end of March and they made good on their promise.
“So that’s why we’re here today. Today is the 4th April. So, they indicated last week that they had finished and you saw as we crossed each of the sections all of them with our officers reported completion.
“What remains now on this project is to send a report to the Office of the President to say that on this project, mission accomplished, and whatever date is then possible, to do a ceremonial handover”, he said.
On the value of the Oweto bridge, Fashola said it crosses the River Benue while the second Niger bridge crosses the River Niger and that it is a North-South link while the River Niger is an East-West link.
“Coming from the South-East, for example, and you go through Otukpo to link Nasarawa, instead of going through Lafia to Keffi, you can now pass Loko and burst out at Keffi.
“That reduces your journey time by about four hours. This is what this bridge has done in terms of business efficiency, reduction of travel time, reduction of travel costs, and ultimately ease of doing business.
“In terms of scope, there are two bridges here; the main bridge is 1.8 kilometers long. So it is 200 meters longer than the main bridge of the second Niger Bridge.
“Although the second Niger Bridge has a total of three bridges, and in terms of project scope, they aggregate to about 2.6 kilometres.
“The two bridges here aggregate to 2.2 km. But individually, in terms of river crossing, this is 200 metres longer than the Niger bridge”, Fashola said.
The minister said that the administration should be commended because this was a development that many African countries could not accomplish in today’s economy.
“We should be proud to project these developments because they are the basis of our future prosperity – linking people, creating opportunities, creating trade, driving commerce, and economic exchange”, he further said.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, there is over 70 kilometres of road linking Benue to Nasarawa States, and 74 kilometres of road linking Benue and Nasarawa into the Federal Capital Territory Abuja is funded by SUKUK IV.
On the second Niger bridge, Fashola said it would be opened to traffic on 15th May.
“The link road that we formally opened to traffic, the date we have now is the 15th May as of yesterday (Monday). We are rolling out all the stops to support the contractor to see that that date is achieved.
“Just about two weeks before the end of term, the President will be invited to the completion, and maybe any day thereafter, he will be able to fly in and do the ceremonial.
“But by 15th May, the bridge should be fully open to traffic”, Fashola said.
