East-West Road: Sack contractors handling project now – Gov Diri to Tinubu

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, on Friday, called on President Bola Tinubu to immediately sack the contractor handling the culvert project of the East-West road, for causing pain to Nigerians and lacking the capacity to carry out the project.

Diri, who also called for swift action to end the suffering of commuters at the Okogbe axis of the East-West road in Rivers State, lamented that some commuters and vehicles had been in one spot for more than a week.

Speaking to journalists after an on-the-spot assessment, the Bayelsa governor, described the situation as pathetic and unacceptable, saying the road, which connects all South-South states, was too important to be left in such an impassable state.

He also called on South-South legislators in the National Assembly to make the issue of the uncompleted East-West road a matter of national priority on the floor of the national legislature.

He stated that as a region that lays the golden egg for the country, the Niger Delta people deserve better than the pitiable situation on the road and urged the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, to visit the bad portions to see things for himself.

Diri recalled that the road was damaged during the 2022 floods, which also seriously affected Bayelsa but said the state had within one year fixed all the roads destroyed in more than four local government areas.

He queried why the federal government allowed the rehabilitation work on the East-West road to linger for so long and also questioned the rationale behind not making a section of the road passable for motorists rather than working on both lanes at the same time.

While appealing to people of the region to be patient, he dismissed claims by the contractor that drivers were impatient and urged the contractor to speed up the pace of work on the project.

He said: “It is chaotic, pathetic and unbelievable that this is happening to an oil-producing area that lays the golden egg for our country.

“The way forward is for the Federal Government to realise that an urgent step must be taken now. I commend the good intentions of the Federal Government but the Minister of Works needs to come here and see things for himself and not rely on information from the contractor. I have spoken to the Minister about this road.