The Federal Government has ordered the removal of all illegal advertisements on the Second Niger Bridge, saying only pictures of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be displayed on the bridge for now.
The Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, gave the directive on Thursday, while inspecting ongoing works on the bridge.
He disclosed that anyone seeking to advertise on the facility must obtain approval from the Ministry of Works.
“For now, the bridge will be decorated with the pictures of President Tinubu. Once we are done with work on this bridge, I want all the illegal adverts on this bridge removed,” Umahi said.
He continued: “If anybody wants to advertise anything on this bridge, he has to apply to the Ministry of Works.”
The minister said the decision was part of efforts to properly manage and beautify the infrastructure, while also highlighting the achievements of the Tinubu administration.
He further directed the installation of additional solar-powered lights on the bridge and ordered that the closed-circuit television (CCTV) system be completed and immediately linked to the Second Niger Bridge.
Umahi also disclosed that the ministry had constituted a committee to conduct an empirical assessment of the condition of the area beneath and above the water level of the bridge.
He said the committee was expected to submit its report within 24 hours.
The minister also called for the dualisation of the bridge, saying the intervention of the Tinubu administration and the quality of work being undertaken deserved to be appreciated.
He said, “In the meantime, the SSAs to the President on the South-East and South-South, we have to dualise the bridge because the President deserves to be appreciated for the quick intervention and the quality of work that the President is doing in this place.”
The Second Niger Bridge is a major Nigerian federal road project linking Asaba in Delta State with Onitsha in Anambra State, built to ease traffic on the old Niger Bridge and improve east-west movement.
It was inaugurated in May 2023, with the bridge structure itself about 1.6 km long and the wider project including approach roads and interchange works.
It is located between Asaba, Delta State, and Onitsha, Anambra State, with a length spanning about 1,600 metres.
The project, which was initiated by the late Muhammadu Buhari administration, was reportedly executed at a cost of around N336bn.
