The Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, has said that several road projects for the South East region, originally conceived during the colonial era, but left unrealised for decades, are now being brought to life under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
Umahi, who stated this on Saturday in Ebonyi State, while conducting senior journalists and government officials on a tour of the administration’s legacy projects, highlighted the Calabar-Ebonyi-Benue Trans-Saharan Superhighway as a project of strategic importance to the South East, South South, and parts of the North Central region.
He said; “It is a colonial-era dream long forgotten, but President Tinubu has revived it, and construction is now underway. We must thank him immensely”.
Umahi said that Section One, initially 118 kilometres, has been extended to 123.6 kilometres with a contract sum of ₦45 billion, adding that dualisation works are ongoing.
The minister also said that Section Two, which runs from the Aboadi border through Benue and Kogi States to Nasarawa, has also been awarded at a cost of ₦668 billion, adding that the project has reached about 28% completion in some areas, with work continuing even during the rainy season.
“The Trans‑Sahara Superhighway is not just a road; it is an investment corridor that will catalyse trade in agricultural produce like cassava, yams, cashews, and palm oil from Cross River, Benue and Ebonyi, while also connecting Nigeria to Cameroon,” Umahi said.
The minister said that the concrete road technology pioneered by President Tinubu as governor is now being deployed nationwide and expressed the gratitude of the South East to the President for ending decades of exclusion.
He said; “All our forefathers sought—inclusiveness—we have it now.”
A statement by Tunde Rahman, Director of Media & Publicity, Renewed Hope Ambassadors, stated that during the tour, the team, including Senator Umahi, acting Federal Controller in Ebonyi State, Engr. Maxwell Okoh, and Mohammed Mustafa, Project Manager of Infiouest International Limited (the contractor for the Calabar-Abuja Trans-Sahara Superhighway), inspected critical bridges in Section One and the concrete pavement on the Onueke section.
Rahman further said that the team also inspected the 1.3-kilometre Ndi-Egbe Bridge in Afikpo LGA, Ebonyi, which links Ugep in Cross River State and is expected to be completed by December 2026.
Regarding the Onueke Flyover in Ebonyi’s Central Senatorial District, Umahi noted that the ₦35 billion project is designed to decongest the highway, adding that the flyover stands 90 metres high and is flanked by a 2.2-kilometre road on both sides.
The minister explained that Section Two of the Superhighway, awarded to Infiouest International Limited, runs from the Ebonyi border through Benue and Kogi to the Loko-Oweto Bridge in Nasarawa State, covering 123.6 kilometres.
The team also inspected the completed concrete pavement link road between Ebonyi and Cross River States, particularly from Okposi-Ukawu in Oha-Zara Local Government of Ebonyi and Ugwulangu-Abaomege in UGEP Ugep Local Government of Cross River State.
