Joint Committee on Works of the National Assembly has decried the deplorable state and slow pace of work on the Calabar–Itu federal highway, describing the situation as a national emergency that demands urgent government attention.
Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Works, Akinola Alabi, stated this during an inspection tour of the road and the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway in Cross River State.
The visit was part of the committee’s constitutional oversight to assess the level of work done by contractors handling the federal projects.
Alabi, who was accompanied by the Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Usman Banye, Joint Committee Coordinator, Ashley Emenike, Senate Committee Chairman on NDDC, Asuquo Ekpenyong and others, said the team was dissatisfied with the progress of the project and performance of some contractors on the route.
He lamented that the decision to switch the project design from asphalt to concrete pavement had delayed work considerably, adding that several contractors lacked the technical capacity to deliver the job.
“Even the portions already completed in concrete are not impressive,” he said, adding, “Not all contractors can handle concrete roads. In exception, HITECH has not done badly with its assigned section.”
Alabi disclosed that the joint committee would convene a public hearing to summon all contractors, the Ministry of Works, and relevant stakeholders to account for the project’s delay.
“We need a national emergency on this road,” he declared.
“As a parliament, we will invite every contractor, the ministry, controllers, zonal directors, and the minister himself. This road is a lifeline between Cross River and other parts of the South-South. We cannot keep quiet while Nigerians suffer daily on it,” he stated.
On his part, Senator Ekpenyong, who represents Cross River South Senatorial District, said the oversight visit followed a motion he raised in the Senate a year ago after a pregnant woman went into labour in traffic along the same route, and delivered her baby inside a car.
Senate Vice Chairman on Works, Usman Banye, lauded the initiative, describing it as a “legacy project” of President Bola Tinubu.
