There is no contract for the construction of a second Niger Bridge which former President Olusegun Obasanjo flagged off five days before he left office in May 2007
It was, at the time, seen as probably Olusegun Obasanjo’s last gift to the nation. Its timing suggested so. On May 24, 2007, with just five days to the end of his tenure, the former Nigerian president announced the flag-off of the contract for the second River Niger Bridge.
The announcement came as good news to many, especially those who had long canvassed for a new bridge to complement the existing one. But their joy and hope soon began to give way to disappointment when no sign of construction work was noticed and the people’s hope started to wane shortly after Obasanjo’s tenure ended. The contract, said to have been awarded under a Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement, was to involve the governments of Delta and Anambra States. They were to partner with the federal government to finance the project. But not long after Obasanjo left office, the Peter Obi administration came out to say that there was no such contract. Since then, more government officials have spoken on the matter, but the real status of the contract was not known.
The truth has, however, now come to light, three years after the project was allegedly flagged off. Hassan Muhammad Lawal, minister of works, housing and urban development, at a media briefing in Abuja on January 29, comfirmed that no contract was awarded for the construction of the second Niger Bridge. Hassan’s confirmation came as answer to a question asked by a Newswatch reporter who demanded to know the true position of the contract purportedly awarded in May 2007. Lawal, in reply, said that no such contract existed even though he is aware that the flag-off ceremony for the project was done during the Obasanjo administration. Besides the ceremony, he said, there was no contractual agreement between the federal government and any contractor for the project.
Although Lawal said government was considering the construction of a second Niger Bridge, he insisted that nothing yet had been done, and that, as the minister of works, he has not come across any document showing that such contract existed. “That there was a flag-off ceremony does not mean that there was a contract award,” Lawal said. He explained that under the planned action for the construction of the second Niger Bridge, the governments of Delta and Anambra were supposed to have made available some funds as their counterpart contribution for the project, but none of the states has paid any money yet.
The question by the Newswatch reporter was prompted by the magazine’s findings during its investigations on the issue of the second Niger Bridge. The reporter had watched the tape of a visit to Anambra State by Lawal on May 4, 2009. The minister visited Anambra State and was accompanied on an assessment tour to the River Niger bridge by Obi, the governor of Anambra State. When they arrived, some Setraco contractors who had carried out repair works on the bridge told the minister that the bridge was previously in bad shape. It was “found out that some of the bearings had shifted” and needed to be “changed or repaired.”
Hassan, in his reply, noted that the Niger Bridge is “almost 50 years old” having been constructed and opened for use in 1966. He said that “a bridge built 50 years ago” had indeed borne the weight of both human and vehicular traffic over the decades, especially in recent years, given the increase in human population and vehicular traffic. “You can imagine the length of traffic on the bridge,” Hassan said.
Complaints over heavy traffic on the bridge had led to calls for the construction of a second Niger Bridge. But Hassan believes that the second Niger bridge project is facing problems. The bridge is a necessity and he would want the governments of Delta and Anambra States to partner with the federal government so that the project can be revived. “I’ve gone through the records but I’m yet to be convinced that there’s a contract for a second Niger Bridge. We have to face reality. Let’s get to the drawing board and see what we can do. The federal government is concerned. We need a second Niger bridge.”
Obi’s position on the project vindicated him. He had said that there was no contract for the construction of the second Niger Bridge. He said the people of Anambra were happy when news of the contract flag-off was announced by Obasanjo not knowing that it was a ruse.
Mike Udah, Obi’s chief press secretary, had also faulted the manner the contract was allegedly awarded. “You don’t just flag off projects by holding the microphone and saying so. You flag off after you have duly awarded the contract and done the necessary thing like mobilising the contractor, for instance. As we speak now, what Obasanjo said he flagged off, if you go there, you will see weeds and grasses.”
How then did the issue of the second Niger bridge come about? Newswatch learnt that the contract announcement was made during a visit by the former president to the state to shore up support for one of his preferred political candidates in the state.
Before Hassan’s recent press briefing that had now clarified the issue, many people didn’t quite know whom to believe, given the varied views of different government officials like Obi and Diezani Allison Madueke, former works minister, as well as the inaction on the matter. For instance, at about the time Obi’s administration was drawing attention to the fact that the second Niger bridge contract was a “ruse,” Madueke was reported to have told the House of Representatives Committee on works in October 2008 that what had stalled the take-off of the second Niger bridge was lack of concession agreement between the principal partners in the contract, Delta and Anambra States, and Gitto Construzioni Nig Ltd, the construction company billed to handle the project.
Madueke gave the impression that the matter would soon be resolved because, in line with the observation of the Legal Sub committee of her ministry, Gitto prepared a draft concession agreement, which it “submitted to the ministry’s legal unit for further checking and legal execution.”
Despite the revelation by Hassan concerning the second Niger Bridge, calls for the construction of another bridge across the River Niger has not waned. Okechukwu Akaneme, president, Onitsha Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, argued the need to construct a second Niger Bridge. “The second Niger bridge is imperative and critical to the socio-economic development of the South-East and South-South. We urge the federal government to, as a matter of urgency, award the contract to a reputable company. The second Niger Bridge will ensure an efficient transport system which will facilitate trade. If you take into consideration the fact that the South-South is emerging as the new economic centre, you will then appreciate the need for a second Niger Bridge that will facilitate the movement of goods and services and reduce the burden on commuters.”
Boniface Egboka, a professor of environmental hydro-geology and vice -chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, also believes that a second Niger Bridge is needed to ease the pressure on the existing one. While urging the relevant authorities to act fast on the matter, Egboka also wants them to ensure that the present Niger Bridge is maintained. “It’s not only about building a second Niger Bridge. First of all, maintain the one that is there and prevent potential disaster. And then, because of the heavy transportation, because of the heavy movement of vehicles, men and materials, and the fact that they have been talking about this second Niger Bridge for over ten years now, I don’t see the reason why it should not be realised. Is it that we don’t have money? I doubt,” Egboka said.
