President Bola Tinubu has announced that plans are underway to complete the rehabilitation of the East-West Road connecting the states of Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom.
Tinubu made this statement on Friday at the end of a three-day Stakeholders Summit organized by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) in Port Harcourt.
Represented by the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, Tinubu said his administration is supporting the NDDC to deliver on his Renewed Hope Agenda for the people of the Niger Delta region.
The president emphasized the need for the NDDC to change its approach in order to transform the region and assured that he is "committed to ensuring the development of the region and ensure that the East-West Road would be tackled."
Akpabio, speaking on behalf of the president, said Tinubu has authorized the NDDC to secure a N1 trillion loan to complete all abandoned projects in the region.
He also said the president has given assurance that the Lagos to Calabar coastal highway project will commence simultaneously from both states.
The poor state of the East-West Road has been a major concern for governors in the region. Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri appealed to the federal government to act quickly to end the suffering of commuters at the Okogbe axis of the road in Rivers State.
Diri said the trip from Yenagoa to Port Harcourt, which should take one hour, ended up taking four hours due to the deplorable condition of the road.
The Minister of Niger Delta, Abubakar Momoh, acknowledged the poor state of the road and said the NDDC has engaged a construction firm to carry out some remedial work to reduce the hardship faced by road users.
