FG Releases List of 69 Ongoing Projects in South East

From Olawale Ajimotokan in Abuja

The Federal Government has released a list of 69 ongoing projects in the South East to debunk the allegation by the South East governors that it was bypassing the geo-political zone in the execution of federal infrastructure projects.

Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had last week in response to the allegation, said that 69 projects at the cost of N16.6 billion out of the N100 billion Sukuk Bond, were being implemented in the zone.

The minister made available the full list of the 69 ongoing projects in the south-east, including a bridge in a statement he issued Monday. The list also detailed the cost of each item of the project being undertaken.

Mohammed averred that though the contracts for many of
the roads were awarded before the advent of the Buhari Administration, the execution had lingered ostensibly because the projects were either poorly funded or not funded at all.

According to him, the projects now in various stages of completion, were spread across Enugu, Imo, Ebonyi, Anambra and Abia States. He stressed that apart from the Sukuk Bond, the projects were funded through budgetary allocations and the Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund.
He also added that government was pondering the possibility of using a part of the recovered looted funds to fund the development of infrastructure across the country.

From the analysis of the list, Enugu State led with 24 ongoing projects, followed by Anambra with 17 projects. Abia has 12 federal projects, while Imo has 10. The last state in the zone- Ebonyi has four projects.

Some of the key projects comprised the construction of the main works, including the associated infrastructure for the Second Niger Bridge linking Anambra and Delta states.

The cost of the project being undertaken by Julius Berger is N206,151,693,014.84.

Other key projects are the rehabilitation of the 9th Mile- Orokam Road in Enugu State by IDC Construction Limited; N38, 034, 539, 413.79. Cnstruction of Ugwueme-Nemwenta-Nkwe-Ezere-Agwunta-Obeagu-Mgbidi Nmaku Road project (Enugu State at the cost of N14, 693,277, 138.79; rehabilitation of Old Enugu- Port Harcourt Road (Agboagu- Abia Border Spur to Mmaku by Setraco Nigeria Ltd (Enugu ) at the cost of N13,933,953,708.62 and the rehabilitation of Bende- Arochukwu- Ohafia Road Section 1 Abia State by Hartland Nigeria Ltd, N5, 490,680, 078.33.

Other selected projects comprised rehabilitation of Dual Carriage and Roads from Upper Iweka to Zik Roundabout and Dual Carriageway from Amawbia Roundabout –Amansea Bridge in Anambra at the cost of N10, 636, 799, 741.81 and the Rehabilitation of Abakaliki-Afikpo Road Section I: Abakaliki-Onueke-Abomega Road in Ebonyi State by Uniglobe/Bullettine Construction Limited at the cost of N2,987,774,166.30.