The federal authorities handling the second Niger Bridge has said the project will be completed on February 28, 2022.
The project is presently at 16 percent completion.
Managing Director of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), Mr. Uche Orji stated this during an official inspection tour of the project and visit to traditional authorities of the host communities.
Mr Orji said NSIA, managers of Nigeria’s sovereign wealth fund, is the financing and investment vehicle of the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), currently handling five symbolic projects of national unity, including the 2nd Niger Bridge,.
Others are the Lagos-Ibadan express road, the Mambila Power Project; the East-West road, and the Abuja-Zaria-Kano highway.
According to NSIA boss, #33billion has so far been injected into the 2nd Niger Bridge project, which contract for the main works was signed in August and advance payment released to Julius Berger Construction company.
He revealed that NSIA is mobilising over #220billion required to construct the main works of 11.9 kilometres of the bridge project, from a tripartite financing structure involving the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF), capital bonds and private investors.
He further disclosed that the said investment funds that will be injected into the project would be recouped through tolling for a 25 years period.
According to the NSIA boss, the 2nd Niger bridge cum the gradient roads project is altogether 44kilometres from Oba-Onitsha in Anambra state to the Asaba airport bypass end of Delta state, claiming it is as huge as the third mainland bridge in length, width and gait.
He assured that the virtual visibility of the project would be evident from beneath the river in the next six months to one year, while dismissing the insinuations of critics that there was no activity on the project, adding that well over 800 workers are on the project site daily.
