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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
The Federal Government has clarified that the trunk ‘A’ federal road project is still underway, despite the Abia State Government’s claim that it has taken over the project.
The Abia State Government had listed the Umuahia-Ikwuano-Ikot Ekpene federal road as one of its new projects, despite abundant evidence that the Federal Government has continued to build it.
However, Chidi Uwaeziozi, Controller of Works in the Federal Ministry of Works in Abia State, clarified the project’s status in a statement issued on Friday, explaining that the Federal Government restructured the contract last year by dividing it into two phases to expedite its completion.
Uwaeziozi explained that Phase One, which remains under the Federal Government, is being handled by Hartland Construction Company and is nearing completion, while the original contractor remains on site because Phase One, which remains under the Federal Government, has about 1.5 kilometres to go.
While insisting that the contractor is legally obligated to complete the remaining section before leaving the site, he questioned the Abia State Government’s claim that the Umuahia-Ikwuano-Ikot Ekpene federal road is one of the projects recently initiated by the Governor Alex Otti administration.
He noted that records show that the rehabilitation of the critical interstate road connecting Umuahia in Abia State to Ikot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom State, which predated the current administration, was facilitated by federal legislative intervention as early as 2016.
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“The project was originally attracted through the efforts of former lawmaker Sam Onuigbo, who represented the Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives,” he stated.
His intervention reportedly led to the commencement of rehabilitation works on the long-neglected federal highway.”
Although it was reported that Hartland Construction Company Limited managed the project under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Works, approximately 25 kilometres of the road had already been rehabilitated before the Abia State Government announced the alleged takeover.
Shortly after the Otti administration “flagged off” work on the road as part of projects initiated by the state government, former lawmaker Samuel Onuigbo expressed his displeasure with the announcement.
He contended that portraying the road as a new initiative undermines years of advocacy and legislative work that drew federal attention and funding for the project.
Onuigbo, who praised President Tinubu for his administration’s determination to expedite work on the critical arterial road, said it was imprudent for any individual or group to politicise developmental projects, emphasising that the project was a significant contribution by the Tinubu administration.
