East-West Road: Otu makes case for speedy completion.
The Cross River State Governor , Senator Bassey Otu has called on relevant agencies to redouble efforts towards the speedy completion of the East -West road
Governor Otu who was speaking when the Senate ad - hoc committee on the East -west road visited him in Calabar, Tuesday said the road is one of the many critical infrastructure that have been abandoned by successive administrations.
Otu however commended the committee for efforts made so far towards completion and appealed for more funds for the state.
The governor told the Senator Abdul Ningi led committee of the need for modifications to the road drawings into Calabar to avoid traffic holdup as is common in some cities in the country.
He used the occasion of the visit to draw attention to the Calabar -Ogoja Expressway which is in a terrible condition and need urgent remedial action and upgrade.
The Governor informed the committee of the Green Tree Treaty which ceded part of the state to Cameroon leading to loss of the state littoral assets and much suffering .
" We have borne and bearing the pain of the country over the Green Tree agreement and it's only fair that Nigeria does right to our state. We need more interventions and my hope is that your committee though ad -hoc in nature will present our case to the Senate and ease our burden", he said.
While making his comments, Senator Ningi regretted that the road which should have represented fairness and justice of a major economic hub has not met that aspiration even by four succeeding Presidents beginning from Obasanjo, Yaradua, Jonathan and Buhari.
He said it was disturbing that the committee has discovered in the course of their oversight inability of the overseeing agencies to come together to deliver on the assignment.
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Bemoaning the state of the Calabar-Itu Highway, 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 didn’t have the military with us and even at that, we spent over six hours plus on a major highway.
“So, I believe that something urgent needs to be done including the fifth and final stage of the East-West Road which is the Calabar-Oron end of the road.
“Yes there is infrastructural deficit across the country, but what we witnessed, was something else on that road.”
Senator Ningi commended Governor Otu for his administrative acumen and hoped that he will bring his legislative experience to bear in the affairs of the state and urged Cross Riverians to give the governor the much needed support to succeed.
