The Federal Government (FG) has refuted the reports saying it renamed the Murtala Muhammed Expressway after Prof. Wole Soyinka, clarifying that it is the ‘Arterial Road N20’ that was named after him.
The FG disclosed that it does not have any plan of renaming the Murtala Muhammed Expressway.
The Special Assistant on Media to the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mr. Rabiu Ibrahim made this known in a statement issued on Monday.
“We have noted the rumours being circulated that the Murtala Mohammed Expressway in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has been renamed 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,” the statement clarified.
Mr. Ibrahim urged Nigerians to disregard any misinformation regarding the renaming of the Murtala Muhammed Expressway.
He noted that the report is entirely false and only exists in the imagination of its purveyors.
