Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike has berated the APC Federal Government for deliberately stalling the completion of the dualization of the Elelenwo-Akpajo Road which links Obio/Akpor Local Government Area to Eleme Local Government Area.
Addressing journalists on Friday after inspecting the portion where the Federal Ministry of Transportation officially directed the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) not to cooperate with the Rivers State Government, Governor Wike said that the objective of the APC Federal Government is to stall the completion of the all-important project.
The road links the economic nerve centre of Rivers State where Onne Port, NNPC Refinery, Indorama, Intels and other oil multinationals are located.
The governor said that the refusal of the APC Federal Government to cooperate with the Rivers State Government on the completion of the road will not stop his administration from completing it.
He, however, admitted that the antics of the APC Federal Government may delay the completion of the road.
He directed the contractor to study the affected portion of the road and suggest options within the shortest possible time.
He said: "We wrote to the Nigerian Railway Corporation for an understanding on this portion of the road . But what we got was that they made up their minds not to cooperate with us.
"That instruction was given by the Minister of Transportation. This road was awarded by the Minister when he was the governor of the state. But he never mobilized the contractor.
"When we took over, we felt the former contractor lacked the capacity for this important road, so we engaged Julius Berger Plc . We thought he should be happy that we are doing what he failed to do".
The governor regretted that the APC Federal Government and her agents politicise everything, including development.
"This may affect the commissioning of this project within the scheduled time. That is what they are trying to achieve. But, we will do everything we can to ensure completion of the road", he said.
Earlier, Project Manager of Julius Berger Plc, Sam Ngbor assured the governor that the engineers of the firm will study the situation and find solution to the challenge.
Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic Media.
19th January, 2018.
