The Federal Government has taken over the 2nd Niger Bridge from the contractor, Julius Berger.
This comes six months after it was commissioned by the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari on May 23.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, while addressing journalists, shortly after he was conducted around the bridge said that he was satisfied with the level of work done.
Umahi was led round the bridge by the Managing Director of Julius Berger, Dr Lars Richter.
The minister commended the previous and present administration for doing a lot to bring the work to a conclusion.
He added that President Bola Tinubu was very committed to the project, adding that the Federal Government has plans to build service stations, filling stations, restaurants and supermarkets and other facilities as seen in the Western world.
He said, “We have light issues and we have put things together on how to permanently have lights restored, 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 Ltd to avoid Onitsha town and take you straight to Obosi.
“President Bola Tinubu is very committed to the project, we are going to acquire more and so that we can build service stations, filling stations, restaurants and supermarkets and other facilities as we see in the Western world.
The minister pointed out that closed-circuit cameras would be installed at the facility including security personnel and surveillance and patrol every five minutes to enhance security on the bridge.
The Managing Director of Julius Berger, Richter, earlier in his speech, said the event was a technical handover after the project was inaugurated by the former administration.
