First Niger Bridge reopens after 38 days: what has changed for motorists

The First Niger Bridge between Onitsha in Anambra State and Asaba in Delta State is open to traffic again. The Minister of Works, David Umahi, declared it open on Thursday, 15 October 2026, after 38 days of emergency repairs.

The Federal Ministry of Works shut the bridge on Monday, 7 September for what it said would be two weeks of work, due to end on 21 September. A GistMatrix count of the ministry’s own dates shows the repairs ran 24 days past that deadline, close to three times as long as planned.

Why it matters

The bridge, completed in 1965, carries traffic between the South-East and the rest of the country through Onitsha and Asaba. While it was shut, the ministry directed motorists to the Second Niger Bridge, reached through Obosi, leaving road users between the two cities with a single crossing.

What has changed on the bridge?

According to the ministry and Umahi, the work included:

• repairs to the steel structure, after vandals removed bolts and parts of the expansion-joint steelwork;
• a new road surface: the ministry’s closure notice said the worn asphalt would be milled off and replaced with about 40mm of new asphalt;
• solar-powered streetlights and CCTV cameras;
• median barriers, with three turnaround points for emergencies and breakdowns;
• security observation centres, still being set up at both ends to watch activity on and beneath the bridge.

Earlier this month, posts on social media claimed the new barriers were being pulled down after complaints. The Federal Controller of Works in Anambra State, Timothy Emenike, denied it, saying the gaps were left for the Federal Road Safety Corps, fire service and other emergency vehicles. “What we simply did was create U-turns for vehicles for emergency purposes,” he said.

Why did it take 38 days?

The ministry blamed the weather. Emenike said the reopening was delayed because “persistent rainfall hampered the ongoing maintenance works on the ageing bridge.”

The ministry’s closure notice, signed by Emenike, said the bridge’s surface had deteriorated and that the damage included the “expansion joint steelworks and stanchion/steel truss nuts and bolts”.

What Umahi ordered

Umahi said federal rules ban sand dredging within 10 kilometres of federal bridges, and directed federal officials in Delta and Anambra states to enforce the ban immediately, warning that officials who fail to act would face disciplinary action. He also said the bridge must be protected from overloading and congestion.

Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori, represented by his Commissioner for Works (Rural Roads) and Public Information, Charles Aniagwu, warned of the cost of neglect: “If this bridge is allowed to collapse, it will not just affect the movement of people between the South and the East,” he said, adding that the economies of both regions would suffer.

The Asagba of Asaba, Professor Epiphany Azinge, SAN, said: “This may be the second most comprehensive intervention made so far on this bridge since its construction”.

Politics at the reopening

Umahi used the ceremony to praise President Bola Tinubu, saying he was opening the bridge “in our deep appreciation of what he has done for the people of South-South and South-east”, and asked residents of both regions to back the President’s re-election bid in 2027.

Umahi had earlier ordered illegal adverts on the bridge to be removed and replaced with pictures of the President. Parrot Nigeria reported that pictures of Tinubu, Vice-President Kashim Shettima and Anambra Governor Chukwuma Soludo, as well as APC banners, were on the bridge at the reopening.

What happens next

The security observation centres at both ends of the bridge are still being built. Umahi also said President Tinubu had directed a full redesign of the Benin-Asaba Expressway, after the government cancelled the remedial contract for its first 11 kilometres over the quality of work, and that about 400 kilometres of the East-West Road would be rebuilt as a spur of the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

Work also continues on the 17.5-kilometre Second Niger Bridge bypass, valued at about ₦172 billion.

Have you crossed the bridge since Thursday? Send GistMatrix your videos and tips.