President Bola Tinubu says his administration is not slowing down in the ongoing infrastructural development for inclusion, safety and growth across the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Mr Tinubu, represented by the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, made the remarks in Abuja on Thursday while inaugurating the rehabilitated 17-Kilometre Old Keffi Road, from Kado Village to Dei-Dei.

The president described the dividends of democracy as “government showing up where citizens live,” saying, “We identify the pain, we fund the solution, and we deliver.

“This road is more than a carriageway. It is an economic artery. By linking Kado, Saburi, Gwagwa, Idu, Karmo, and Dei-Dei directly to the Outer Northern Expressway, we have cut travel time and cut costs for residents.

“Goods will move, markets will breathe and workers will get to their jobs with less stress. We are not slowing down. Across the FCT, from the centre to the area councils, we are building for inclusion, for safety, and for growth.

“Every district deserves access and every citizen deserves to feel the impact of government where they are,” he said.

He commended the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, for turning the FCT into a site of visible results and for leaving no community behind.

He said that Mr Wike saw a strategic economic lifeline that had become a daily ordeal for commuters, traders, and families in Kado, Saburi, Gwagwa, Karmo, Idu, and Dei-Dei.

“He brought the report to me and we acted,” he said.

Mr Tinubu added that through the Light Up Abuja initiative, Mr Wike had integrated streetlights on road corridors “so that movement at night is safer and commerce can extend beyond sunset.”

He urged the benefiting communities to guard the infrastructure, stressing that a road maintained by its community lasts for a generation, while a road abused by its community dies early.

In his remarks, Mr Wike explained that the road was rehabilitated following a request by traders operating along the road corridor.

“Today, July 2, we are here to inaugurate the road. We are very happy that all the promises Mr President made to the people in this area have been fulfilled,” he said.

He recalled that in 2024, the FCT Administration constructed and inaugurated access roads to the Saburi I and Saburi II communities along the road corridor.

Mr Wike promised to construct the Zaudna-Kaba-Kagini Road after he sighted a banner at the event, held by youths in communities along the road corridor, showing the bad state of the road and asking the minister to intervene.

The minister directed the acting Executive Secretary of the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to ask Lubrik Construction Company Ltd to immediately move to the area and construct the road.

“The other day, while we went to flag off one of the roads, I saw some people carrying a banner showing how bad their road is. Today again, they have come here with that banner. I’ve told the contractor, as usual, to make sure work commences immediately,” he said.

Earlier, acting Executive Secretary, FCDA, Richard Dauda, said that the project was awarded to Lubrik Construction Company Ltd in February 2025.

Mr Dauda said that the Old Keffi Road, now fully rehabilitated, commences from the Arterial Road N5 just by the Kado Fish Market, also known as the Life Camp Junction in the Gwarinpa District.

He added that it traverses through several communities such as Karmo Tasha, Gwagwa, and Jiwa, up to Dei-Dei, and terminates at the Outer Northern Expressway (Murtala Mohammed Expressway).

He explained that the road is an old, existing road predating the creation of the FCT, describing it as a “key regional road” for transporting goods and people from far-away places such as Minna and Kaduna.

“Coming through Suleja and Zuba, the road traverses communities like Dei-Dei, Gwagwa, Jiwa, and Karmo and passes through the city centre via old towns like Wuse, Maitama, and Asokoro, then passes by Karu within the FCT, continuing to Keffi and onto Akwanga, eventually leading to Jos or Makurdi.

“The road provides access to regional markets, the building materials market in Dei-Dei, Panteka market in Apo Dutse and several other commercial activities in the area,” he said. 

(NAN)