The senator representing the Gombe central district, Senator Danjuma Goje, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu to expand his superhighway projects to the northeastern part of the country......CONTINUE READING THE ARTICLE FROM THE SOURCE>>>>>
Goje, who appealed on Thursday through a motion at plenary, noted that most of the interstate roads linking states across the zone have deteriorated over the years.
Commending Tinubu for committing N4.2 trillion to coastal road projects linking the South-South to the South West and North West, Goje urged the president to include the North East in the superhighway projects.
He noted that only N19 billion was allocated for the rehabilitation of two out of many others in the North East zone.
Goje said, “It is imperative to note that in this laudable project, the North-East has only two projects; that is, Yola-Fufore-Gurin Road in Adamawa State (N11.81bn) and Lamido Road in Taraba State (N7.68bn), out of the approved sum of N4.2tn.
“Apart from these two road projects in the North-East, there are other very important road networks, which are in bad condition, such as the Bauchi – Gombe road; Biu – Gombe road; Potiskum – Gombe road; Darazo – Gombe road; Numan – Jalingo road; Yola – Mubi road; Yola – Michika – Madagali – Gwoza – Bama road, Ngorore – Mayo Belwa – Zing – Jalingo; Mayo Belwa – Jada – Ganye; Biu – Gombi – Maranraba; Biu – Damboa – Maiduguri; and Biu – Damaturu, among others, which desperately require serious reconstruction and rehabilitation.
“The North-East is the only zone that is not connected to the superhighway project, embarked upon by this administration.”
Senators who supported Goje’s motion, however, said the request for extension of the superhighway projects should be for every other geopolitical zone, saying that the problems enunciated by Goje affect other zones of the country.
Senator Olamilekan Solomon Adeola (Ogun West), while contributing to the debate, clarified that allocations regarding the N4.2 trillion coastal road projects were not made on a zonal basis.
According to him, the N4.2tn coastal road projects strictly cover the Badagary-Sokoto and Lagos-Calabar coastal roads.
“For the existing road projects across the country, Mr President has set aside N500bn for the continued rehabilitation work without exclusion of any zone,” Adeola said.
In his remarks, the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, said road deplorability will continue until Nigeria develops a serious road map for constant rehabilitation and maintenance of roads across the country.
Akpabio noted that if previous administrations in the country had taken the bold steps being taken by the Tinubu administration now, the roads would not have been as deplorable as they are today.