Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State has urged the federal government and the National Assembly to investigate all abandoned federal road projects in the state.
Mr Nwifuru made the call on Saturday while receiving his predecessor and Minister of Works, David Umahi, who was on an inspection tour of federal roads in the state.
The governor said Ebonyi was the only state in the country which does not have an ongoing federal road project.
“You just highlighted three federal road projects in the state as the firm handling one of them was disengaged by a past administration for poor job execution.
“We lost a serving local government area chairman on the road it (the firm) constructed only for the federal government to re-engage the contractor.
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“The federal government paid the firm N2.6 billion of the N2.8 billion contract sum for the present job and we would not allow anyone to ride us in such a manner.
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“The state and zonal representatives at the ministry of works are culpable for failing to effectively supervise jobs in their areas.
Mr Nwifuru also urged the federal government to address the issue of road construction by ministries and other entities not connected with construction.
“A situation where the ministries of health, agriculture, water resources and even institutions of higher learning construct roads is worrisome.
“Road construction should be left to the ministry of works which has the manpower and equipment to construct durable roads.
“The funds that were supposed to be allotted to the ministry of works are no longer available due to the multiplicity of road projects,”
He, however, expressed optimism that Mr Umahi will solve the “numerous problems” facing the construction sector in the country.
Mr Umahi, in his response, commended the governor whom he described as “his product”, for his policies towards bringing democratic dividends to his people.
“We are touring federal roads across the country to ascertain their status and be assured that such roads in the state would be given due attention.
“We are propagating the message of using concrete on our roads and directing relevant officials of the ministry to identify with governors for effective monitoring of roads,” he said.
(NAN)
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