From Adesuwa Tsan, Abuja
The Senate has urged the Federal Government to prioritise the completion of ongoing road projects across the country and suspend new ones, except where urgently needed to restore access to flood-hit communities or serve underserved areas.
The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senator Tony Nwoye during plenary on the deplorable condition of the Ogbaru-Ndoni-Rivers Federal Highway, a strategic link between the South-East and South-South.
Senators expressed concern that the introduction of new projects, while existing ones remained inadequately funded or abandoned, was worsening transportation difficulties and undermining economic activities.
The Senate urged the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), the South East Development Commission or the Federal Ministry of Works to immediately carry out emergency palliative repairs on failed and impassable sections of the highway pending comprehensive rehabilitation.
It also called on the Ministry of Works to commence the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Ogbaru-Iyiowa-Odekpe-Atani-Ogwuikpele-Ndoni Federal Highway through a special intervention programme or another appropriate funding arrangement.
The Senate Committee on Works was directed to inspect the highway, engage relevant stakeholders and report back within four weeks with recommendations, while the Committees on Works and Appropriations were mandated to ensure adequate budgetary provision for its reconstruction.
Presenting the motion, Nwoye said the highway, which connects communities in Anambra State to Ndoni in Rivers State, was partially constructed in the late 1980s but had suffered decades of neglect without major rehabilitation.
He attributed its deterioration to prolonged abandonment, ageing infrastructure, increasing traffic and the absence of routine maintenance, saying extensive pavement failures, deep potholes and severe erosion now endangered road users.
The Senate noted that the approximately 70-kilometre journey from Onitsha through Ogbaru to Ndoni, which ordinarily takes about an hour, now takes nearly two hours, resulting in higher transportation costs, lost productive hours and disrupted commercial activities.
Failed sections frequently caused vehicles to break down and left commuters stranded for prolonged periods, exposing them to accidents and heightened security risks.
Lawmakers expressed concern that the road’s condition was undermining interstate commerce, agricultural value chains, regional integration and investment. They warned that further deterioration would worsen hardship in Anambra and Rivers states and adversely affect oil exploration and production along the Ogbaru corridor.
Contributing to the debate, Isah Jibrin, Diket Plang and Samson Ekong drew attention to abandoned road projects across the country, saying their completion would improve the movement of goods and services and the living conditions of affected communities.
Calls were also made for the completion of the Calabar-Itu Road and intervention on the Aba-Ikot Ekpene and Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene roads, where lawmakers said poor conditions had caused deaths, hardship and disruption of economic activities.
Adams Oshiomhole faulted the Ministry of Works for introducing new projects while many existing roads suffered from inadequate funding and abandonment.
Ahmad Lawan, Adamu Aliero and Wasiu Eshilokun supported the call to prioritise ongoing projects, with the position expressed that “the ministry should be advised not to embark on new roads until the old ones are completed.”
Lawan, however, urged the Senate to accommodate essential new projects in underserved areas.
“Going forward, we should ask the Ministry of Works to prioritise the old roads, but work for a way to accommodate new ones for the underserved,” he said.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, agreed that some new projects were unavoidable, particularly where flooding had cut off communities.
“Some of the flooding sites are areas that we must touch or it will mean that we have abandoned them,” he said.
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