Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano State has called for peace from all stakeholders to enable the contractors handling the project, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, to continue with the great quality job the company is clearly implementing on the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road.
The scope of works for the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road, also known by the acronym AKR, has been altered from adhoc rehabilitation of broken segments to comprehensive reconstruction by the client, the Federal Government. This development was revealed in a presentation made by the Managing Director of the contractor, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Engr. Dr. Lars Richter at the Town Hall meeting held at the Kaduna State University-Main auditorium in Kaduna last Thursday.
The scope of works, Dr. Richter said, has been broken down into three sections, being Section 1 stretching at 165.5km from Abuja to Kaduna; Section 2 comprising a length of 73.4km from Kaduna to Zaria; and Section 3 with a distance of 137.0km from Zaria to Kano. Construction works, he informed the meeting of the project stakeholders, is simultaneously going on all three sections of the road.
The Chief of Staff to the President, the Honourable Minister, of Works and Housing, His Excellency, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, the Honourable Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, the Executive Governor of Kano State, His Excellency, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, OFR, Distinguished Senators and Honourable members of the House of Representatives, Community leaders, members of Julius Berger’s Executive Management and project implementation team, as well as members of the Press have all earlier undertaken a physical inspection tour of the project by road from Kano to Kaduna to see the ongoing works firsthand before the commencement of the meeting itself.
The Honourable Minister of Finance, Hajija Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed on her part said that while the completion of the project on paper is slated for 2025, the Federal Government will certainly work to actualise and commission the project as a legacy landmark for citizens beneficial use within the tenure of the Buhari administration.
The Executive Governor of Kano State, His Excellency, Alhaji Abdullahi Umar Ganduja, OFR, who reminded the stakeholders at the meeting that he was a Commissioner of Works for six years in Kano before he became Governor, asked stakeholders at the meeting: “Has any person here or anywhere complained about the quality of work Julius Berger is doing on the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road?” The answer from the large audience of stakeholders was a resounding Noooo! “Then, let us stick with what is good and give security and peace a chance for Julius Berger to continue doing the great quality job they are doing on the road. We in Kano are very satisfied with the excellent quality of the ongoing works on the road”, said the Governor.
