- FCT says SCC projects November completion, with formal handover planned for December after years of stalled construction.
Years of delay put new timetable under scrutiny
The long-delayed Apo-Karshi Road in Abuja is entering another decisive phase, with the Federal Capital Territory Administration saying construction is projected for completion in November and formal handover expected in December.
The road has remained unfinished for years, leaving residents and motorists across the Apo-Karshi axis dealing with difficult movement, congestion and repeated promises of delivery.
FCT Minister Nyesom Wike inspected the project on Saturday, August 22, as work continued under SCC Nigeria Limited.
The FCT Administration says SCC projected completion and delivery in November, while formal handover is planned for December.
The two dates therefore describe different stages of delivery rather than competing deadlines.
Project has outlived original timetable
Current official and media accounts differ on whether the original contract was awarded in 2010 or 2011, so IDNN is not treating either year as settled without the original contract record.
What is clear is that the project remained incomplete for more than a decade.
A 2025 report said the original contract was awarded to Kakatar Engineering Limited for N6.4 billion with a 20-month completion period.
The FCT Administration later terminated that contract after prolonged delay and re-awarded the project to SCC Nigeria Limited.
The historical N6.4 billion figure relates to the earlier contract. The value of the current SCC contract has not been established in the material reviewed by IDNN.
Commuters have carried the consequence
For residents and motorists, the project is more than another construction file.
The corridor links communities along the Apo-Karshi axis with central Abuja and has long been associated with difficult movement and traffic pressure.
Wike has acknowledged that the road has generated repeated complaints, while the FCT Administration presents its completion as one of its priority infrastructure targets.
That makes the latest timetable an accountability test.
A projected completion date is not the same as a completed road. A formal handover date is not evidence that the route is already ready for unrestricted public use.
November completion, December handover
The current government position is that SCC is projected to complete and deliver the work in November.
Formal handover is planned for December.
The key test is whether those milestones happen as stated.
If construction is not substantially complete in November, the December handover timetable will come under pressure.
Delivery is the evidence that matters
After years of delay, the public-interest question is no longer whether officials recognise the importance of the Apo-Karshi Road.
It is whether the current administration will finally deliver it.
The next checkpoints are completion of outstanding work, confirmation that the road is ready for public use and the formal December handover.
For commuters who have waited through years of stalled construction and shifting expectations, the strongest proof will not be another inspection.
It will be a road they can use.
