The Governor of Cross River State in southern Nigeria, Bassey Otu has sued for the redesign of the East-West road to link Calabar, the state capital.
Governor Otu made the call when he played host to the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on the East-West Road led by the senator representing Bauchi central senatorial district, Senator Abdul Ningi at his office in Calabar.
According to the Governor, “The East-West road is one of the several critical infrastructures that has been left to decay in our country over time. Even in this period of palliatives, if there is anything worse than not having the palliatives, then it is when the main artery that connects the state to the rest of the country is not there.
“The original design of the East-West road did not include Cross River State and now that the road will be extended to our dear state, I believe there is a need for a modification of the design to avoid traffic snare as it occurs within some major cities in Nigeria,” he stressed.
He also drew the attention of the committee to the deplorable state of the Calabar- Ogoja highway, which was yet to be awarded for repairs.
Governor Otu expressed the hope that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s administration would tackle critical infrastructural needs across the country, especially in Cross River State.
Lack of synergy
In an earlier remark, Senator Ningi disclosed that the ad-hoc committee was on an assessment of the East-West road, which linked some states within the south-south region of Nigeria such as Delta, Edo, Bayelsa and Rivers.
Ningi disclosed that the tour to the states including Akwa Ibom State, which is part of the area the road would be linking to reach Cross River, revealed some duplicity and lack of synergy amongst government agencies in the region.
The senator, who decried the inability of previous administrations to complete the road, stated “We have traversed the East-West road from Bayelsa, Delta, Rivers, Akwa Ibom States and now in Cross River. It is disturbing, to say the least, of what we have found in the course of this assignment.
“The inability of the overseeing agencies of government to come together and give the road the much needed attention is really worrisome. There is complete lack of synergy between the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission), Federal Ministry of Works, FERMA and the states, which the road passes through,” he lamented.
Continuing, he said,“After the first leg of this assignment, we are going to have a 2-day public hearing on why the East-West Road has remained as it is, uncompleted. Who are the contractors? What have they received? So that people will not just collect money from the federal government and disappear.”
Calabar-Itu Road
Meanwhile, the Senate Ad-hoc Committee on their way to Calabar through the Calabar-Itu highway, was trapped in a gridlock for more than 5 hours due to the abandoning of rehabilitation work along the road by Julius Berger Construction Company.
During his remarks to Governor Otu, Senator Ningi said, “I have never seen and experienced what we saw on that road anywhere. Thousands of trucks stuck in traffic with little or no motion. If we did not have the military with us and even at that, we spent over six hours plus on a major highway.
“So, I believe that something urgently needs to be done including the fifth and final stage of the East-West Road, which is the Calabar-Oron end of the road. There is infrastructural deficit across the country, but what we witnessed, was something else on that road,” Senator Ningi further lamented.
On arrival in Cross River State, the ad-hoc committee was received by the south-south Zonal Director Works, Mr. Clement Ogbuagu and the Cross River State Controller Works, Mr. Jimoh Olawale represented by Mr. Patrick Kanu as well as SEMATEC Site Manager, Mr. Joe Ukpata.
