Erstwhile National Publicity Secretary of the defunct New People’s Democratic Party (nPDP) and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze has extolled the achievements of President Mohammadu Buhari, especially his performance on infrastructure, social investment and human capital development.
Making specific emphasis on the impactful records of the Buhari/APC administration on the South-South/East, Chief Eze, in a statement made available to media houses in Port Harcourt, said the President has shown manifest commitment towards the development of the two regions particularly in the area of infrastructure.
The party Chief, an alumnus of the University of Calabar, noted that in the 1980s, he witnessed how the Calabar-Itu highway – widely known as the gateway linking Calabar to Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Ebonyi, Abia and other States in South South and South East deteriorated to such a horrible state that it became a dead trap for wheelmen, commuters and other road users who counted their loses on a daily basis.
Recall that the Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to President Muhammadu Buhari, Senator Ita Enang, recently inspected work on the road in Uyo, where he told Journalists that the fund for the project has been released by the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to the Federal Ministry of Works to facilitate fixing of the road.
He further hinted that three construction giants Julius Berger PLC, China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) and SERMATECH Nigeria Limited, have been mobilised to three sections of the Calabar-Itu Federal highway following the release of N185 billion by the Federal Government.
According to reports from a reliable source, the first phase of the contract was awarded to Julius Berger to the tune of N54 billion, with construction works commencing from Odukpani and Ibiono Ibom axis of the highway in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states until it went on holiday.
From the breakdown, N54billion was handed to Julius Berger; N52 billion approved for CCECC while N79billion was approved for SERMATECH, whose portion of the road has a total of four bridges.
Eze who toured this major road expressed happiness on what he observed but pleaded with the Contractor handling the ABA, Agbor Hill through Ikot Ekpene section of the road which has been left unattended for more than a decade to hasten work on that section as it is still in a very sorry state and unmotorable
Eze also observed that the Ikot Ekpene Umuahia Road is also in a very bad shape and according to those living within the axis of this road, “We have been cut off from Nigeria.” As a stakeholder in this administration, I appeal to the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola to do something about this road particularly now that we have decided as a government to come to the aid of our people.
Berating the past PDP-led administration for paying lip service to critical issues of national concern, Chief Eze said the importance of that road to the people and the economy would ordinarily be enough ground for any serious government to engage contractors to put it in order, unfortunately, under the sixteen years of PDP thievery, the road suffered reckless abandon, forcing road users to groan in disappointment as they tried hard to maneuver their way through the dangerous path.
“It is saddening to note that this road, despite its significance to Nigeria and Nigerians, the PDP administration could not fix it for sixteen solid years.”
Nigerians are however happy and grateful to President Buhari and the APC for coming to the scene and magnificently turning this once deadly road to one of the best roads in Africa by engaging three top Contractors to handle the road construction”.
According to Chief Eze, the second major intervention of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is the second Niger Bridge which deferred all efforts at solution and become a source of embezzlement for officials of past administrations in Nigeria.
Eze highlighted that for the 2nd Niger bridge to be connected on both ends simply demonstrates that Buhari is working. With this feat he has shown that what others couldn’t do since independence including Presidents from the South, he was able to accomplish within six years in office
Eze said it took the willpower of President Buhari to put a stop to the use of the said projects to siphon public funds and punish Nigerians particularly those from South East, by mobilizing contractors to site and pegging June 2022 as the date of its commissioning.
Commending the contractors for their commitment in ensuring that the projects are completed within record time, the party stalwart urged the people on whose soil the projects are located to maximally support the companies handling the construction works for the success of the projects.
With the delivery of the two legacy projects and coupled with countless others completed and ongoing within the South South and South East regions, Chief Eze said President Buhari and the APC administration need not waste time on campaigns for 2023, given that Nigerians have seen and can now clearly discern what is good and evil.
Eze called on the good people of the two regions to continue to support President Mohammadu Buhari, in his efforts to deliver quality service to them through infrastructural development which he described as very critical element of governance.
