The Inter-Party Advisory Council of Nigeria has demanded a review of the over N18bn billed to be reimbursed to Cross River State on account of road rehabilitation.
IPAC said this in a statement entitled ‘IPAC laments horrible state of Calabar-Odukpani-Itu Road,’ which was obtained on Friday.
The statement said the National President, IPAC, Dr Leonard Nzenwa, said this in Abuja after the arrival of a team of its national officers who were in Cross River State to oversee and harmonise operations and leadership of its chapter.
IPAC called on the state government to immediately set up machinery to fix the road to justify the huge allocations from the Federal Government as well as the massive internally generated revenue.
It said, “We urge the state government to immediately set up machinery towards fixing the road to justify the huge allocations from Abuja as well as the massive internally generated revenue.
“With low activities at Calabar airport, the need to rehabilitate the road cannot be overemphasised.”
While expressing concern on the deplorable state of Calabar-Odukpani-Itu, it said it was “not only nightmarish travelling on the road but also unbefitting of a state with enormous oil and other resources.”
Nzenwa said it was disheartening and insensitive for the Cross River State government to leave such an economically strategic facility almost impassable despite enormous resources at the disposal of the state government.
In the statement, he wondered why such an important road would be left in such a horrifying state since majority of users of the road had been Cross Riverians, and other Nigerians delivering services that directly benefited the people of the state.
Nzenwa said, “IPAC calls on the Cross River State government to fix the road without delay as road users are suffering.
“There is no reason why a road such as this should be left in this deplorable state while waiting for the Federal Government to come and fix it when many states have taken the initiative of fixing strategic roads in their states after which they were reimbursed by the Federal Government.”
The team of IPAC national officers who were in the state to oversee and harmonise operations and leadership of its state chapter requested the Cross River State government to fix the road.
