Akpabio Couldn’t Complete Uyo-Ikot Ekpene Road in Eight Years, Says State Govt

Okon Bassey in Uyo

The Akwa Ibom State Government has said that the federal road linking Ikot Ekpene with Uyo, the State capital, was abandoned by the immediate past government of Senator Godswill Akpabio because of inability to address litigations that characterised the job.

In a media interaction weekend in Uyo, the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Charles Udoh, disclosed that former Governor Akpabio, inaugurated the road when works were at 42 per cent completion

The former Senate Minority Leader, Senator Akpabio, had listed the road passing through his senatorial district as one of the projects he started which has been abandoned or yet to be fully completed.

But, the commissioner argued that it was impossible for Senator Akpabio’s successor, Governor Udom Emmanuel, to have completed the Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road, when Akpabio could not complete it in eight years, just within his three years in office.

Udoh said the immediate past administration left the major federal government road it was intervening on at 42 per cent completion, though inaugurated and with several litigations which stalled the progress of work.
He said as responsible government, the administration needed time to clear off legal issues and has thereafter been able to take the road, which is ongoing to an impressive level of completion.

Speaking on the alleged abandonment of the over N30 billion Ibom Tropicana Entertainment center, initiated by the immediate past administration, Udoh said the state government is sourcing for investors to take over the management of the centre.

He explained that the industries attracted by the present administration, including the syringe industry, the fertilizer blending factory, the metering plant, the flour blending factory and others were not government owned, but were merely attracted and enabling environment created by government.

He noted that many sophisticated government owned industries in the past folded up due to government bottlenecks and other factors which kept private investors ahead of government in business management.

The state government, he said will continue to attract investors to the state to create employment for the teeming population of qualified youths in the state, the essence being to completely change the public service setting of the state.

“What Governor Emmanuel is doing is not to build political projects, he is embarking on sustainable development beyond vote seeking, he is trying to sustain the economy of Akwa Ibom State through industrialisation and he wants to change the state from a public service state to an industrialised state.

“That is why industries brought in by government is not government owned, they are attracted to create employment for our people, and they will in turn boost our internally generated revenue, but sustainability is assured”, he posited.

The Commissioner said Governor Emmanuel would not mortgage the future of the state by recklessly sharing cash and car gifts, but would rather channel the resources of the state to ventures that would be sustainable.