The government has refuted claims that the Murtala Muhammed Expressway in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has been renamed to Wole Soyinka Expressway, News About Nigeria reports.
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, clarified that there was never any consideration by President Bola Tinubu’s administration to rename the expressway.
In a statement released by his special assistant on media, Rabiu Ibrahim, on Monday, June 17, the minister addressed the circulating rumors.
The statement read: “We have noted the rumors being circulated that the Murtala Mohammed Expressway in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has been renamed as Wole Soyinka Way. The renaming of the Murtala Muhammed Expressway 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.”
