By Henry Umoru

The Senate Wednesday assured  Nigerians that the 2nd Niger bridge would be completed in February  2022 given the fact that the project was well funded by the Federal Government.

Disclosing this yesterday when  he led members of the Senate Committee on Works on inspection tour of the bridge and other road projects in the South East, Chairman of the Committee, Senator  Adamu Aliero said that “We are at the construction site of the 2nd Niger bridge which has been on the drawing for quite a long time.

“We are happy with what we have seen; the completion of this bridge has come to reality.

“The contractor has massively mobilised to site. It is a very big engineering project perhaps one of the biggest project in the country and it was awarded at a cost well over N200 billion and the completion date is February  2022.”

The project with a length of 11.9 kilometers was awarded by the Federal Government to Julius Berger on Sept. 1, 2018 at the contract sum of N206, 151, 693, 014. 87.

According to a statement yesterday from the Committee, Senator Aliero further said that apart from funding from budgetary allocation, the project was also funded from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and also  funds that were recovered from various sources.

Aliero said, “Nigerians are going to have the 2nd Niger bridge and I will say congratulations to the government of President Muhammadu Buhari for funding this project and for making arrangements to ensure that this bridge is completed.”

According to him, with  the pace of work on the project, the committee was very optimistic that the contractor would be able to complete it within the timeframe.

A member of the committee and former Deputy Senate President,  Senator  Ike Ekweremadu, PDP-Enugu  said ” I have been involved in the project since the beginning when former President Olusegun Obasanjo conceived this project and when Jonathan came with me to lay the foundation stone and when President Buhari started this extensive construction.

READ ALSO: COVID-19: Ogun bans high density gatherings

“I must commend the President for his commitment to completing this project. I’m happy and impressed with the extent of work. I want to thank Julius Berger for their commitment as well.

“Most of our people didn’t now this extent of work had been done, I’m impressed, I believe the work will be completed in good time in 2022.”

Ekweremadu who noted  that the bridge when completed would be an edifice to behold, said, “We are all going to be proud of it as a country, and this will be a major gift from President Buhari to South East of which  we are very grateful.”

Project Manager Mr Stefan Uelzmann said that  the company  has good support from the federal government concerning security situation and as such “we actually have no issues.”

Also, Federal Controller Works in Anambra, Mr Adeyemo Ajani said that while constructing the bridge, measures had been taken to tackle any flood eventuality.

Vanguard