Nigeria’s Works and Housing Minister, Babatunde Fashola has given May 15 as the expected date for contractors to complete and deliver the Second Niger Bridge with only four kilometers left.
Fashola said with the ever-changing expected dates of delivery, and the role of “local circumstances”, such as the sit-at-home order every Monday in the last two years, has slowed down the pace of work.
The Works and Housing boss said that there are compensation issues people have not been told of, including the relocation of 132kVA transmission line and power shutdown.
According to Fashola, President Buhari deserves praise because his principal’s 2015 campaign promised to boost the economy as infrastructure was not central to the three-point agenda.
The Minister further added “But I don’t see what you can realistically do in any economy where the infrastructure is aging, insufficient, and broken. So, infrastructure is just a means to get the economy back on the road”.
“This government understands that this is a social investment, and that government has to lead that investment. We have made that investment. The bridge is finished. The Onitsha side road is essentially finished. All that is left is the link road on the Asaba side”.
RN