The Senate President, Senator Ahmed Lawan has assured the people of Akwa Ibom State that the Federal Government will intervene in the Ikot-Ekpene/Aba road.
Speaking during the commissioning of the 25 kilometre Uyo-Ikot Ekpene Road on Tuesday in Ikot Ekpene executed by the Akwa Ibom State Government, Lawan said he would investigate why work of the road was abandoned and ensure that construction work resumes on the road.
The Senate President who noted that Governor Udom Emmanuel has shown by his intervention in Federal roads that he was committed to partnering the Federal Government in development projects, revealed that he would ensure that the federal government reimburses the state government on federal roads undertaken by the state government.
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“I thank you for the opportunity to commissíon the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene dualised road. Governor Udom Emmanuel here is what I call justice. He is unity, peace, progress, he is development.
“I must commend you for continuing with this project when it was left at 20 percent completion, you took over this road because of the love for your people, particularly the people of Ikot Ekpene. I commend you for being progressive.
“Though this is a federal road but because you want the people of Ikot Ekpene particularly and Akwa Ibom in general to have a very good road, you have completed this road. This is very significant and of course I heard you very well when you said you want the federal government to refund you for constructing this federal road. You are right,” he said.
Governor Udom Emmanuel said roads were critically strategic to his completion agenda as it was one of three gates to his completion agenda, as such, he has taken the construction of roads seriously.
Emmanuel explained that though the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene was a Federal Government road, he decided to compete the road started by the administration of former governor, Senator Godswill Akpabio because the main beneficiaries and users of the road were the people of Akwa Ibom.
He urged the Federal Government to reimburse the state on the construction of Federal roads, saying the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road was a continuation of the Calabar-Itu road that has been abandoned after earth work was done, noting that the same road leads to Aba.
“In the last six years and few months, and some weeks, we have commissioned very valuable economic projects and other critically soft and hard infrastructure in this state. This particular one, Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road gives me what I call an exceeding joy.
“I want to reassure the Senate President that now that he is here for this one, you are going to come again very soon because there are so many projects to be commissioned. I am grateful that you are here and have repeated so many times that roads are critically strategic to our completion agenda because we talk about the three gates ways, and road is one of them,” he stated.
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