FG to Refund Enugu Govt’s Expenditure on Abakpa Flyover

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja and Gideon Arinze in Enugu

The federal government has urged the Enugu State government to begin the construction of the flyover bridge at Abakpa junction in Enugu Capital City to minimise traffic challenges and enhance the economic  fortunes of  the state.

Speaking during a visit to some projects in the Southeast, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, who pledged the collaboration of the federal government, stressed that through the MTN Tax Credit Scheme, the state government will be refunded its funding of the project.

At the site of the collapsed bridge at New Artisan  Market, near NNPC Mega Filling Station, Enugu  State, Umahi, who was with the Governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, commended the governors of the region for their efforts  in the development of road infrastructure  for the economic advancement of the area.

With the ongoing construction works, he said the economy of the region would begin to boom.

Other projects he visited included: The construction  of 23-span twin flyover bridge at Eke-Obinagu Junction, Emene handled  by Reinforced Global Ltd, the reconstruction  of the collapsed bridge  along Enugu-PH Expressway at New Artisan Market, handled  by CCECC Ltd, and the ‘dualization’  of  107km section of Enugu- Onitsha Expressway handled  by RCC Ltd.

He lauded the governor for the initiative to handle the dualization of 24km of  Enugu axis of the Enugu-Abakaliki-Ogoja Trans-Sahara Highway and noted that the intervention had closed the gap in the road infrastructure intervention efforts of federal government in the state.

“He (Umahi) expressed the readiness of federal government to collaborate with Enugu state government in the construction of a flyover bridge at Abakpa junction in Enugu Capital City to minimise traffic challenges and enhance the business  fortunes of  the state.

“He directed immediate soil tests and design of the bridge for consideration by the Federal Ministry of Works. It is expected  that the state government will fund the execution  of the project and afterwards  get a refund  from the federal government  through  the MTN Tax Credit  Scheme,” a statement by Uchenna Orji, the minister’s spokesman said.

Umahi directed RCC Ltd to re-mobilise immediately to the site and free the roads to reduce  the hardship  suffered  by the road users because  of the uncompleted  section of the road.

He urged the people to keep faith with the federal government’s programmes for economic  recovery, as reiterated in his recent nationwide broadcast.

In his response, the host governor noted the synergy between the state government and federal government  as a governance imperative for the development and progress  of the state.

He stated that from the beginning, the minister had visited the site and assessed what was happening immediately the administration called on President Bola Tinubu to assist since the road is a major gateway.

On the critical  value of the road, he said: “So this major gateway would have not only affected just the people of Enugu but indeed the entire people of Southeast and also those from South-south. If you are driving from Port Harcourt to parts of Northern Nigeria, you would have to travel through this route.

“So the minister and indeed Mr. President, understanding the importance of this road immediately deployed,”  he added.

He stressed: “Again, we want to continue to call on our people to go about their business and know that if we do destroy our assets, we’re going to also still use the wealth of our common patrimony to fix those assets. So we must remain focused on our work and continue to do our work.”