The Federal Government will commission the 2nd Niger next year, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said.
Fashola said this on Tuesday during an inspection visit of the Anambra State axis of the bridge. He said the bridge would be completed from a revised Federal Government budget.
The minister said the bridge project would be fully linked by February next year while the entire project would be commissioned sometime in 2022.
He said, “I’m impressed with the work done. By February, the bridge will be linked from Asaba to the Onitsha end and sometime next year, the entire project would be commissioned.
The Federal Controller of Works in the state, Adeyemo Ajani, said the bridge had reached 80 per cent completion while the entire project had reached 70 per cent.
He said the 11.9 Km Owerri Interchange road linking the bridge from Onitsha end to Asaba in Delta State was almost completed.
The Federal Government, it was gathered, had so far released N116.72bn for the project valued at N414bn.
It was also gathered that the project was awarded as a ‘lump sum contract’ without provision for cost variation.
The contract was awarded by the President, Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in 2018.
The minister had earlier visited the Federal Government Secretariat in Awka, the Anambra State capital, under construction and said that it would be completed in October subject to availability of funds.