The Senator representing Cross River South Senatorial District, Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong has called on the attention of Federal Government to the dilapidated Calabar-Oban-Ekang Border Access Road linking Cameroon.
Senator Ekpenyong made the call through a motion he moved on the floor of the Senate on Wednesday, during the third plenary of the 10th National Assembly. He noted that Calabar– Oban–Ekang Road which is the major link between the southern parts of Nigeria, through Cross River State to Cameroon, and an important transport corridor and commercial gateway, has been completely cut off.
According to him the road has suffered the worst form of neglect in the history of road maintenance and rehabilitation in Nigeria despite having featured in successive budgets as capital projects without execution even when the contract for the rehabilitation has been awarded.
“Worried that Setraco Nigeria Limited which was awarded the contract for the rehabilitation of the Calabar – Oban – Ekang Road, long before now, has not mobilized to site, despite the deplorable state of the road, even with the provision of N250,000,000 in the 2023 Appropriation Act, as an ongoing project; says the Senator.
Ekpenyong disclosed that the current state of the road is a sad commentary on the state of the highways in Nigeria, thus painting an unsavoury picture of the country’s deteriorating culture of road maintenance.
“The road which has completely become non-motorable and impassable as a result of a long period of neglect has made it impossible for humans, goods and services to move along that route which also provides access to a major location for cocoa and oil palm plantations.
The three prayers of Senator Ekpenyong was adopted as presented as express resolutions of the 10th Senate of The Federal Republic of Nigeria calling on the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to review the ongoing contract for the rehabilitation of the Calabar – Oban – Ekang Road awarded to Setraco Nigeria Limited and fund the project to enable the contractor to commence and complete the rehabilitation works while urging the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to carry out emergency repairs of the totally failed and impassable portions of the Calabar – Oban – Ekang Road; and mandate the Committees on Works, FERMA and Legislative Compliance (when constituted) to interface with the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing to ascertain the reason for the delay in execution of the rehabilitation project and to ensure compliance.
It’s on records that Senator Asuquo Ekpenyong had earlier visited Ekang where he got to see the state of the roads and promised to draw the attention of the Federal Government to the failed portion of the roads for quick intervention.