Nigeria: Govt Denies Renaming Murtala Mohammed Way Abuja After Soyinka

17 June 2024
Vanguard (Lagos)
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru

THE Federal Government has debunked the report that the Murtala Mohammed Way, Abuja has been renamed after the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, saying such name change has never been contemplated by the administration.

It explained that during the inauguration of a new road in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, codenamed Arterial Road N20 (from Katampe to Jahi), the FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, proposed to the President that the road be named after Prof Wole Soyinka, and the President agreed.

In a statement issued by Rabiu Ibrahim Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, the government urged Nigerians to disregard any misinformation regarding the renaming of the Murtala Mohammed Expressway, describing the report as entirely false that existed in the imagination of its purveyors.

The statement read: "We have noted the rumours being circulated that the Murtala Mohammed Expressed Way in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has been renamed as Wole Soyinka Way.

"The renaming of the Murtala Mohammed Expressway Way has never been contemplated by this administration.

"For the record, on June 4, 2024, President Bola Tinubu inaugurated a new road in the FCT codenamed Arterial Road N20 (from Katampe to Jahi), which links the existing Outer Northern Expressway (also known as Murtala Mohammed Expressway) to the Northern Parkway (also called Ahmadu Bello Way).

"During the inauguration of the N20 (which is a new road), FCT Minister, Barrister Nyesom Wike, proposed to the President that the road be named after Prof Wole Soyinka, and the President agreed.

"Therefore, it is the Arterial Road N20 that is named after Prof Soyinka. The Murtala Mohammed Expressway remains unchanged and continues to bear the name of our esteemed former Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Mohammed.

"We urge all citizens to disregard any misinformation regarding the renaming of the Murtala Mohammed Expressway. The report is entirely false and only exists in the imagination of its purveyors."

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