TheCable

Babatunde Fashola, minister of works and housing, says the construction of the second Niger bridge will be completed in 2022.

The minister spoke at a forum organised by the News Agency of Nigeria to mark the sixth anniversary of the Buhari administration in Abuja, on Sunday.

The construction of the bridge commenced on September 1, 2018.

According to Fashola, the bridge, which will serve as a major link between the south-east and the south-west will be delivered between the second and third quarters of 2022.

He said the construction time was lost to the COVID-19 pandemic but added that the work had gone beyond the water level.

He said the project would facilitate the influx of investments to the south-east when completed.

“So, what you see currently is the final work. The sub-structure which entailed building cement structures underwater often costs a lot of money,” he said.

“We should finish the bridge next year between the second quarter and third quarter.”

The bridge is 1.6km long and furnished with other ancillary infrastructure, including a 10.3km highway and an interchange.

The bridge spans from Asaba in Delta state to Ozubulu, Ogbaru and other communities in Anambra state.

The minister added that the federal government’s investments in road building and infrastructure development have been impacting various economic activities nationwide.

The minister said more wealth and job opportunities have been created with 850 contracts awarded and 13,000 kilometres of roads and bridges under construction and repairs across Nigeria’s federal highways.

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s commitment to improving infrastructure sits squarely at the centre of the progressive ideal to improve the human condition,” he said.

“This connects many more doors and it is the most legitimate way for distributing money across board.

“One of the reasons our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) is called progressives is because there is a commitment to the progressive ideals.

“We could be any other thing but we deliberately choose to be progressives and the common element that binds progressives is the resolve to improve the human condition and that’s what drives us.”