The Senate Joint Committee on Works has issued a stern directive to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, urging the construction giant to expedite work on the long-awaited Bodo-Bonny Road project in Rivers State and meet its December 2025 deadline.
The 39-kilometer road, flagged off in 2017 as a strategic partnership between the Federal Government and the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG), is expected to link Bonny Island—an oil and gas hub largely accessible only by water—to the mainland. The project, once completed, is expected to unlock significant economic opportunities and improve access across Rivers State.
The chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Barinada Mpigi, led the oversight visit to the project site as part of the National Assembly’s ongoing inspection of federal road infrastructures nationwide. The lawmakers, including Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Onyekachi Nwaebonyi, and Senator Victor Umeh, expressed dissatisfaction over the delay in delivery and insisted the contractor must meet expectations.
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“We are satisfied. We are happy. But in the same way, just like Oliver Twist, the committee is saying, Mr. Julius Berger, we used to know you as being the number one construction giant in this country.
We don’t want you to slack behind,” Mpigi said.
Officials of Julius Berger, including Project Manager Tim Nippert and Managing Director Dr. Peer Lubach, reassured the committee that over 75 percent of the work had been completed and the road would be ready by December 2025.
Speaking after the tour, Senator Mpigi emphasized the National Assembly’s commitment to accountability and infrastructure delivery. “The Senate and the House of Representatives are the people that appropriate the necessary funds. We want to see what the taxpayers’ money is being used for in our country.”
He challenged Julius Berger to use the Bodo-Bonny Road as a model of excellence in road construction, saying its timely and quality delivery would reinforce the company’s legacy in Nigeria.
In addition, the committee urged the Federal Ministry of Works to re-award the remaining nine-kilometre stretch connecting Bodo to the East-West Road to enhance regional accessibility and open up new corridors of development.
The inspection, which marked the start of a two-day oversight tour of road projects in the Niger Delta, reflects the lawmakers’ renewed commitment to ensuring no federal road project in the region is abandoned.
