By Dr. Nafisat Makinde
The Federal Capital Territory Administration has set June 2026 as the new delivery date for major road projects in Kuje, even as the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, issued a fresh warning to waste contractors over what he described as a messy and unacceptable state of Abuja.
Wike announced the revised timelines on Tuesday after inspecting two strategic projects — the dual carriageway from the Umar Musa Yar’Adua Expressway to Kuje Township (Highway 105) and the dualization of the Kuje–Gwagwalada road.
He said the Kuje Highway 105 project, awarded in 2019 but abandoned during the COVID-19 era, is now back on schedule after the contractor returned to site. Arab Contractors, he noted, has committed to handing over the road by June next year.
“We are very impressed with the level of work and the quality of job being carried out by Arab Contractors, and they have promised to deliver the road by June next year,” Wike told journalists during the inspection.
He explained that the second project, the Kuje–Gwagwalada dualization, was expanded this year to stretch from Kuje Junction to the LEA Secretariat and onward to Gwagwalada. He described the link road as a major economic corridor that will allow residents to bypass the Airport Road and ease inter-area movement.
Wike added that if stakeholders keep to their commitments, between 70% and 80% of the project is expected to be completed within schedule.
But the Minister took a tougher tone when speaking on waste management in the city, declaring dissatisfaction with the performance of new contractors barely two weeks into their assignment. He said Abuja’s sanitation situation had deteriorated and residents were expressing frustration.
“I’ve gone round personally; I’m not satisfied. A good dancer is known by the first step he takes. Abuja is too messy,” he said, summoning the contractors to a meeting immediately after the inspection.
Wike warned that the FCTA would not tolerate excuses, stressing that sanitation failures would attract direct consequences. He said districts like Asokoro, Maitama, Wuse, and the Airport Road corridor must be treated as priority zones
