Buhari makes first official N14.45bn commitment to 2nd Niger Bridge
After series of meeting and visits by Igbo leadership within the last few months, the Federal Government has awarded the contract for additional works on the Second Niger Bridge linking Delta and Anambra States. The new bridge is about several meters apart to the existing 1966 Niger Bridge.
The latest payment to the main Contractor handling the project, Messrs Julius Berger (Nig.) Ltd., was a total cost of N14,446,010,416.16 which the company said will drive the work to a comfortable phase before the middle of the year.
In a statement, Mohammed Abdullahi, an Assistant Director (Information) in the Ministry of Works, noted that “the existing Niger Bridge which was commissioned on January 4, 1966 is severely overstressed and its continued serviceability cannot be assured.
“The idea of a Second Niger Bridge started way back in the late 1970s but its realization has been delayed by several challenges. The Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is resolutely committed to the completion of this important project.”
However, followers of the second Niger Bridge construction say it is not yet clear to them if the federal government is still following the failed PPP platform on the project as two of the states’ governments who are expected to contribute about 40 per cent, Anambra and Delta States had before the end of former President Goodluck Jonathan administration pulled out of the 40:40:20 funding formula on grounds of paucity of fund.
