By Nefishetu Yakubu
Mr Patrick Asowerien, the Commissioner Representing Edo State on the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) Board, clarified on Friday that the Abraka-Oben road project has not been completed.
Speaking with newsmen in Benin, Asowerien explained that the Minister of Regional Development, Mr Abubakar Momoh, had only commissioned the first phase of the 9.8-kilometre Abraka-Oben road.
“This phase terminates between Edo and Delta states near Evbuesi village.”
He also mentioned that future phases of the project were planned, with the second phase set to extend from Evbuesi to Ugo, including a spur at Oben.
Asowerien was responding to protests by the Ugu Youths Development for Change, who had claimed that the minister had inaugurated a non-existent Abraka-Oben road project.
He emphasised that the protesting youths had misrepresented the facts about the road’s progress and status, and clarified that the project was still ongoing and incomplete.
He further clarified that the federal government had neither completed nor commissioned the road, explaining that work on the project was ongoing and being carried out in phases.
Asowerien also confirmed that the NDDC and other partners were working together to improve the living conditions of the region’s people through ongoing infrastructure projects.
The commissioner highlighted that the Oben section of the road project had not been completed and criticised the misleading narrative spread by the protesting youths.
He also pointed out that work on the Orhionmwon section of the Oben-Umugun road, which connects to the Benin-Abraka highway, had not yet begun.
Asowerien commended the Minister for prioritising these roads in the 2024 budget and assured the public that the link roads would soon be developed.
It is worth noting that Comrade Monday Osemwenkhae, leader of the protesting youths, had earlier led journalists on a tour of the community to assess the true state of the road.(NAN)
