President Bola Tinubu inaugurated an 81km section of the Abuja-Kaduna highway on Saturday, 24 October. Work continued on other parts of the northern transport corridor.
The President performed a symbolic ribbon-cutting at the All Progressives Congress campaign rally in Kaduna, according to the State House. Works Minister Dave Umahi presented the completed section during the event at Ranchers Bees Stadium.
Umahi said the concrete-paved section formed part of the project’s 118km first lot. He put the value of that lot at ₦252 billion and said more than 95 per cent of the contract sum had been paid.
The minister said the work had been completed in 13 months after the government took over the project and changed its construction method. The inauguration covers part of the wider Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano highway, rather than completion of the entire corridor.
The 81km figure counts both carriageways. In a March project update, Controller of Works Chukwuma Kalu described the concrete component as 40.5km of dual carriageway, equivalent to 81km when the two sides are combined.
A Ministry of Works inspection statement dated 20 September 2025 also identified Section One’s concrete component as 40.5km of dual carriageway. It recorded 22km completed on both sides at that stage.
Kalu’s March briefing, reported by Punch, identified Infouest Nigeria Limited as the contractor following the termination of the earlier Julius Berger contract. He said the redesign replaced asphalt with continuously reinforced concrete pavement.
Officials have presented the change as a way to improve durability and reduce maintenance requirements on a heavily used road. Voice of Nigeria reported that the inaugurated concrete section was equipped with streetlights.
The first lot also includes asphalt works outside that concrete component. Kalu’s March account listed a 17.3km section linking the Kano-Zaria road and a 6.63km dual asphalt overlay in Kano State, including the airport access road.
The March update put completed concrete work at 60km and projected delivery of the remaining 21km by the end of April. Saturday’s inauguration came in October, after that earlier target.
For the second section, Umahi reported further work still outstanding. He said more than 144km of its 164km had been completed and promised to finish the remaining 20km by the end of November.
The minister valued that second section at ₦505 billion. He also said Tinubu had directed the installation of solar-powered streetlights along the entire 375km Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano route.
The reconstruction predates the present administration. In a notice to the Nigerian Exchange on 25 November 2024, Julius Berger said the original rehabilitation contract had been awarded to it in December 2017.
The company confirmed that the Ministry of Works had terminated the contract after negotiations failed to produce an agreement. It said it had sought price adjustments because of material cost increases and had received no payments for work executed after November 2023.
The highway connects the Federal Capital Territory with Kaduna, Zaria and Kano, carrying passengers and freight between the capital and northern commercial centres. Umahi also acknowledged Kaduna Governor Uba Sani’s role in monitoring the project’s implementation and facilitating its completion.
Archive location photograph of the Kaduna-Abuja highway near Zuma Rock, 8 December 2018, by Zinatmohammed. It does not show the newly inaugurated concrete section or the October ceremony. Source, CC BY-SA 4.0. Prepared website and social images are cropped and resized; photographic adaptations retain that licence.
