President Bola Tinubu on Monday inaugurated the start of work on a new access road linking Tungan Madaki with the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway at Zuba, describing the project as part of a broader drive to connect satellite towns to the capital and to spur economic activity along the corridor.
Speaking at the ceremony where he was represented by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Honourable Tajudeen Abass, President Tinubu also described the road as an extension of the Bill Clinton Drive–Tungan Madaki route commissioned weeks earlier.
“What began as one road is now growing into a network, and that is how real development takes root,” Abass quoted the President as saying.
NewsQuest gathered that the work will extend roughly 7 kilometers beyond the recently completed Bill Clinton Drive link, creating a continuous route to the Abuja–Lokoja Road at Zuba.
The Federal Capital Territory’s master plan, President Tinubu added, envisions such links easing congestion in the city center, widening commuter options and opening new corridors for housing, schools, health facilities and industry.
“This is infrastructure that connects potential to prosperity,” the President said in a statement accompanying the event.
Deputy Director of Press in the FCT Minister’s office Rabi Musa in a statement, tied the project to both economic and security goals: improved farm access, lower market prices for food, higher local enterprise, and faster response times for security services.
In his remarks, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike said the decision to extend the road to Zuba came after a request by the newly elected chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Mohammed Kassim, who asked that the route be pushed beyond Tungan Madaki to meet the Abuja-Kaduna highway.
Minister Wike praised the council chairman’s initiative and said the extension reflected the administration’s pledge to link satellite towns with the capital.
“We are fulfilling the president’s promise that all satellite towns, all area councils will have the attention of his government,” Minister Wike said, urging contractors to complete the work on schedule.
He instructed China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the project contractor, to deliver the road by December so it could be ready for commissioning before the holidays.
Wike outlined the route as serving several communities—Tungan Wakili, Anguwan Lasheri, Tungan Jiwa, Tungan Nasara, Tungan Samu, Amawa and Jima—and providing an alternative approach to the airport for travelers from Zuba, Kaduna and Kogi states.
Acting Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority, Engineer Richard Yunana Dauda, said the project followed the completion of a 7 km access road that bypassed the airport’s second runway and included a four-span bridge.
Supporters of the project said local employment and agricultural access would be immediate benefits.
“When farmlands are opened, food becomes cheaper in our markets,” the president’s remarks noted, while urging contractors to hire local labor and residents to protect the new road.
The ceremony drew praise from other senior public officials
Dr. Mariya Mahmoud, Minister of State for the FCT, also described the road as reinforcing the administration’s commitment to inclusive development and safer, faster movement across the capital region.
In his personal capacity, Speaker Abass, lauded Minister Wike’s leadership, saying Abuja’s recent changes were evidence of a “working minister” at the helm.
The administration has been highlighting infrastructure projects to mark the third anniversary of what it calls the Renewed Hope agenda—an effort that combines investment pledges with messaging about economic revival and national security.
