The federal government has denied renaming the Murtala Mohammed expressway in the federal capital territory (FCT) after Wole Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate.

On June 4, President Bola Tinubu named the just inaugurated arterial road N20 from the northern parkway to the outer northern expressway (ONEX) in the FCT, the Wole Soyinka highway.

In a statement on Monday, Rabiu Ibrahim, special assistant on media to Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, said “rumours are being circulated” that the Murtala Mohammed expressway has been renamed as Wole Soyinka Way.

Ibrahim said the renaming of the Murtala Mohammed expressway “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),” the statement reads.

“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.”

Ibrahim asked Nigerians to disregard “any misinformation regarding the renaming” of the Murtala Mohammed expressway.

“The report is entirely false and only exists in the imagination of its purveyors,” he said.