The federal government has firmly denied circulating rumors that the Murtala Muhammed Expressway, spanning from Kubwa to Asokoro in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has been renamed as Wole Soyinka Way.
Rabiu Ibrahim, Special Assistant (Media) to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, issued a statement yesterday refuting the claims. Ibrahim emphasized that renaming the Murtala Muhammed Expressway had never been contemplated by the current administration.
This comes in the wake of the June 4, 2024, inauguration of a new road in the FCT, codenamed Arterial Road N20. This road, extending from Katampe to Jahi, links the existing Outer Northern Expressway (also known as Murtala Muhammed Expressway) to the Northern Parkway (also known as Ahmadu Bello Way).
During the inauguration ceremony, FCT Minister Nyesom Wike proposed to President Bola Tinubu that the newly inaugurated road be named after African Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, a suggestion the President accepted.
“Therefore, it is the Arterial Road N20 that is named after Prof. Soyinka. The Murtala Muhammed Expressway remains unchanged and continues to bear the name of our esteemed former Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed,” Ibrahim’s statement clarified.
The government urged all citizens to disregard any misinformation about the renaming of the Murtala Muhammed Expressway, labeling such reports as entirely false and existing only in the imagination of their purveyors.
