President Muhammadu Buhari, has granted the request of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Godswill Akpabio, to obtain N20 billion, for the East-West road, OBSERVERS TIMES report .
It was gathered that the working capital will be obtained from the Sovereign Wealth Funds, SWI. The East-West road project was first awarded in 2006, by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, but driven by the YarAdua/Jonathan administrations.
The project, a 657-kilometre dual carriageway, stretching from Calabar, the Cross River State capital, to Warri, in Delta State, was however, valued at N726 billion, at the time, and approved by the Federal Government at the height of agitations by youths in the Niger Delta region.
However, the approval to release the N20 billion to Akpabio, is generating concerns within government circles, with many questioning the purpose, at a time when there is a probe of alleged mismanagement at the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, under the supervision of the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs.
The reported fear now among Stakeholders in the Oil-rich region, is that the new N20 billion will disappear, just like the billions of Naira of the NDDC funds that have been allegedly misappropriated in the last seven months, and beyond.
Experts said that the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs does not have the engineering support for such a project; so, releasing the funds to Godswill Akpabio, would be a waste, as what is required is the proper funding structures of the SWI, or the Federal Ministry of Works.