Construction giant and contractor of the Second Niger Bridge, Julius Berger, has officially handed over the Second Niger Bridge to the Federal Government seven months after it was inaugurated by previous administration. The 1.6 kilometres long bridge links Anambra and Delta states and was estimated to ₦336 Billion. Initially, the project was launched on May 23, 2023, during the eve of the former president, Muhammad Buhari’s tenure. But then there were ancillary roads and other construction works that needed to be done after the inauguration.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, while addressing reporters after he was shown around the road and the facilities by the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Dr. Lars Richter, said that he was satisfied with the level of work done.
“We have light issue and we’ve put things together on how to permanently have light, especially at night.
“What we have agreed is to deploy solar solutions in the coming weeks so that every night we don’t have to run diesel.
“The roads are going to be completed when we have completed the two interchanges, one is taking us off from Asaba town to cut off the traffic and the other one is going to be done by Reynolds Construction Company (RCC) Ltd to avoid Onitsha town and take you straight to Obosi.
“President Bola Tinubu is very committed to the project, we’re going to acquire more so that we can build service stations, filling stations, restaurants, supper markets, and other facilities as we see in the Western world.
“We are determined to that, the need to do this with the interchanges is going to be a very smart one, so that over the years we can have a beautiful and maintained road”, Umahi said.
The minister also noted that the bridge is open to concession to any private company that would be ready to complete all the ancillary roads, collect tolls, and recoup investments.
