President Bola Tinubu on Tuesday inaugurated the completed main carriageways of the Outer Southern Expressway (OSEX), a strategic artery intended to link Nnamdi Azikiwe Expressway’s Ring Road I to Ring Road II and the capital’s outer districts, saying his administration will not abandon projects.
Speaking at the commissioning, where he was represented by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, President Tinubu described the opening as a concrete deliverable of his “Renewed Hope” agenda and sought to draw a sharp contrast with what he called a legacy of stalled projects.
“We don’t start projects to abandon them,” he said. The era of uncompleted projects in Nigeria is gone. We finish what we start,” Tinubu said.
The completed segment, part of the broader OSEX corridor now also designated Mahamadou Issoufou Way, is projected by to relieve congestion in the Federal Capital Territory, trim commuter fuel consumption and recover lost man-hours.
Deputy Director of Press in the FCT Minister’s office Rabi Musa in a statement said President Tinubu lauded Minister Nyesom Wike for keeping contractors on schedule and delivering “quality results for the Nigerian people, on time.”
Senate President Akpabio, delivering the presidential message at the event, commended the relocation of Apo mechanic traders to a permanent site in Wasa and linked visible local improvements to political gains for the ruling party in recent area council elections.
In his remarks, Miniater Wike said Presisent Tinubu had instructed, at the 2023 inauguration, that inherited projects that already consumed public funds be completed.
He said the contract for the OSEX main carriageways, awarded in October, was closely monitored and adequately financed.
Minister Wike singled out China Geo-Engineering Corporation for meeting a tight timeline and delivering road and bridge works ahead of the president’s third anniversary.
“I want to sincerely thank CGC,” he said, adding that the project illustrated what happens when contractors and authorities meet their obligations.
He also rejected assertions that national development had stalled, noting the FCT plans 31 days of inaugurations of completed projects across the city and its satellite towns.
The commissioned stretch completes a key phase of the corridor, which is being developed in stages from the Villa Roundabout in Asokoro through Apo and Wasa to Kuje and eventually the A2 at Gwagwalada.
The first stage—a 10‑lane expressway from the Villa Roundabout to Ring Road I—was opened on President Tinubu’s first anniversary in 2024.
China Geo‑Engineering’s Maneging Director, Zhong Xiang, portrayed the project as evidence of deepening China‑Nigeria ties and as an outcome of “partnership, trust and shared commitment to development.”
The ceremony drew senior government officials, security chiefs, area council leaders and traditional authorities.
NewsQuest reports that the completed carriageways would also bolster security and local commerce, and that facilities for the relocated Wasa traders had been fully provisioned.
