The federal government has dismissed rumours making the rounds that the Murtala Muhammed Expressed Way in Abuja has been renamed as Wole Soyinka Way.
The minister of information, Mohammed Idris, disclosed this in a statement on Monday, June 17.
The minister noted that the Bola Tinubu administration is not considering renaming the road after Soyinka.
“We have noted the rumours being circulated that the Murtala Muhammed Expressed Way in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, has been renamed as Wole Soyinka Way,” the minister said in a statement by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim.
“The renaming of the Murtala Muhammed 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 Mhammed 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 Muhammed Expressway remains unchanged and continues to bear the name of our esteemed former Head of State, General Murtala Ramat Muhammed.
“We urge all citizens to disregard any misinformation regarding the renaming of the Murtala Muhammed Expressway. The report is entirely false and only exists in the imagination of its purveyors.”
