The Nigerian House of Representatives has called for adequate provision and release of funds for the completion of Odukpani -Itu road project awarded by the immediate past administration of President Muhammad Buhari in 2021.
The motion for the inclusion of the road project in the 2025 budget estimate was sponsored by Rt. Hon. Unyime Idem and co-sponsored by the nine other colleagues from Akwa Ibom State and the eight members from Cross River State.
Through the motion, the House of Representatives has urged the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning to ensure the inclusion of Odukpani-Itu Federal Highway construction in the 2025 Appropriation Bill.
The House also mandated the Committees on National Planning and Economic Development, Appropriations, Finance and Works to ensure compliance and adequate budgetary provision.
The Green Chamber also directed the Committees on Public Procurement and Works to investigate the abandonment of the Odukpani-Itu Road Project, which was awarded in tranches to Julius Berger, Sermatec and CCECC in 2021.
Presenting the motion, he drew the attention of the House to the fact that “Odukpani–Itu Road plays a paramount role in the economic development of Cross River and Akwa Ibom communities, the South-south environs and in extension the nation at large. The road serves as the only route for transportation of goods and services, including construction materials like chippings, stone dust from quarries in the northern part of Calabar, as well as the gateway for haulage of farm produce from the Northern part of the country especially, Benue and Nasarawa to other parts of the country in the south. It is the same route that cargoes, imported goods from seaports and petrochemical products from tank farms and depots are evacuated to South-South and South-Eastern parts of the country.”
He further noted that the current deplorable state of the road has spanned well over 20 years, since its construction in 1975, leading to loss of economic opportunities, and placing untold hardship on commuters across Akwa Ibom State, Cross River State and beyond.
It is noteworthy that the 83.3 kilometres Odukpani-Itu Federal Highway was awarded in 2021 in tranches to Julius Berger, Sermatec and CCECC companies respectively for reconstruction, but decried that up till now, the road has remained uncompleted, “causing commuters to waste many hours while plying the road, due to obstruction from broken-down trucks and ravaging gully erosion on some portions of the highway.”
According to cumulative statistics by the National Bureau of Statistics and Federal Ministry of Works, human lives are lost daily, as well as agricultural, economic and industrial activities, estimated to the tune of N1.465 billion annually.
It is therefore his sincere hope that the intervention of the House will ensure the inclusion of the Odukpani–Itu Road Project in the 2025 Appropriation, adequate funding provided and construction completed, in order to bring to an end to the sufferings of commuters.
