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ENUGU/ONITSHA EXPRESSWAY: WORKS MINISTER WANTS MTN TO COMMIT N15BN MONTHLY
Piqued by the tanker explosion which claimed many lives at the Ugwu Onyeama axis of Enugu/Onitsha Expressway, the Federal Ministry of Works is to demand that MTN commits irrevocably to pay contractors on the project a minimum of N15 billion every month for the next 10 months towards fast tracking the completion of the road.
Failing to abide with the arrangement, the Ministry might consider initiating termination process of the project.
This was part of resolutions reached during a courtesy call on Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, by a delegation from the Anambra and Enugu caucus of the 10th National Assembly who came to seek the Federal Government’s intervention on the completion of the construction of Enugu/ Onitsha Expressway, being handled by RCC Ltd and funded by MTN under the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme.
According to a statement issued on Saturday Uchenna Orji, media aide to the minister, it was further resolved that MTN would need three contractors to do the 79 kilometers within the original contract sum of N202 billion.
It was also resolved that the remaining 72km of the road shall be awarded to other contractors, and that MTN and RCC would be invited to bid too.
The minister assured the people of the South-East of the commitment of the administration of President Bola Tinubu to the transformation of the transportation infrastructure in the zone, like every other geo-political zones of the country.
The minister who expressed deep sympathy over the lives that have been lost along the uncompleted sections of Enugu/Onitsha Expressway especially the recent incident of tanker explosion, stated that the people of South-East have every reason to have implicit confidence in Tinubu’s ability to address the road infrastructure challenges in the zone.
He noted that under Tinubu, the South-East has been given a pride of place in the political landscape of Nigeria.
“Again, we should also be grateful to Mr. President. Since he became President, we’ve not heard about farmers and herders clashes in the South East. Mr. President inherited 2,064 projects, totaling about N13 trillion, and today, those projects will be over N20 trillion, by reason of the floating of the Naira and the removal of fuel subsidy.
“It’s nobody’s fault. But by his good heart and commitment to rewriting the story of this country, he will make Nigeria great again.”
Speaking during the event, the leader of the delegation and Minority Whip of the Senate, Senator Osita Ngwu commended the minister for the unprecedented scale of road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance nationwide.
However, he expressed concern that some of the projects were not receiving adequate funding required to complete them in record time.
Ngwu made particular reference to the Enugu/Onitsha Expressway that was awarded to RCC and funded through the tax credit scheme, noting that some sections of the road have become death trap to road users.
He stated that the delegation was compelled by the recent tanker mishap on the Ugwu Onyeama axis of the road in Enugu State to visit the minister.
The senator expressed the readiness of lawmakers to offer necessary cooperation that would help in tackling the challenges and bottlenecks faced by the Ministry in ensuring the completion of the road.
“We appreciate that since the minister assumed office that the President has graciously approved quite a number of projects in the South-East. We appreciate Mr. President, but we are worried that it is not just about putting projects across our zone, but when these projects are not funded, it looks like it is just a game.
“We are worried that some of the projects that are in the South-East are not receiving funds that can make it to progress so that we can have benefits for such projects. And when it is not funded, it becomes a worry to us.”
