By Adedapo Adesanya
The federal government has given fresh reassurance that the reconstruction work on the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano highway will be completed by the first quarter of 2024.
The Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing, Mr Mahmuda Mamman, gave the assurance on Friday during an inspection of the road and other ongoing federal road projects in Kaduna State.
Mr Mamman took a tour of the 375.9 km of the dual carriageway way beginning from the Abuja end through Kaduna to Zaria and extending further to Kano, all in the North-West zone.
During the inspection tour, the Permanent Secretary attributed the late completion of the road project, awarded in 2017, to insecurity and funding challenges, which he said are being sorted out to ensure that the contractor delivers the project next year.
The essence of the inspection, according to him, is to assess the progress made so far by the contractor handling the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road project, Messrs Julius Berger Nigeria Plc.
Among other challenges identified by Mamman and the project manager during the inspection are the issue of funding, insecurity, and weather conditions, which they noted had largely slowed down the project.
The Permanent Secretary also inspected the ongoing reconstruction work on the Kaduna Western bypass road, expressing disapproval of the slow pace of work by the contractor handling the project.
The Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road reconstruction project was awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc on December 20, 2017, and the project commenced six months later on May 21, 2018, with a 36 months completion period. However, the project suffered setbacks, and if this new target meets the set date, it would have taken approximately 75 months.
Aduragbemi Omiyale 
Modupe Gbadeyanka