Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, on Wednesday announced that the construction of the 2nd Niger Bridge is now complete and will soon be available to the public for use.
The 2nd Niger Bridge is a Federal Government project through a concession under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) scheme on a Design, Build, Finance and Operate basis. It is 1.6 km (0.99 mi) long and furnished with other ancillary infrastructure including a 10.3 km (6.4 mi) highway, Owerri interchange and a toll station all at Obosi in Anambra State.
Fashola, who was speaking at a briefing to present President Muhammadu Buhari’s scorecard in Abuja, said that the only factor delaying the commissioning of the road is the construction of the link road which the recent surge of flooding has impeded.
According to him: “I can confirm that the second Niger Bridge itself is finished. People can walk through the bridge now unimpeded. What remains is the four-kilometer link road on the Asaba side.
“Right now, our dredger is in place, we have to rebuild the road by reclaiming sand, the recent surge of flood has slowed us down. On the Onitsha side, there is a 7kilometer road that links the bridge and the Onitsha-Owerri interchange.”