Joe Effiong, Uyo
The Akwa Ibom State Government has threatened to join a former governor of the state, Sen. Godwill Akpabio, in exposing the any sleaze in the activities of the previous administration by publishing details of every contract and level of execution by May 29, 2015.
The state’s commissioner for works, Mr. Ephraim Inyang-Eyen said this while speaking with Daily Sun, on Monday. He explained that Governor Udom Emmanuel had maintained absolute decorum by ignoring any ill-executed contract of the previous administration by drawing a line to start his activities afresh.
According to the commissioner, “I don’t want to go to the projects because they are too many.
“But I will take one particular project, and for the first time we are going to give details of what happened to Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road to further establish that what has been said about Udom’s performance or non-performance as per Ikot Ekpene senatorial district is absolutely false.
“Uyo-Ikot Ekpene road was awarded by the government of His Excellency Gov Godswill Obot Akpabio on the 19th of December, 2011.
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“It was awarded that the cost of N28.364 billion to Julius Berger. As that work started on the 12th of September, 2013, it was reviewed upwards by the sum of N23. 572 billion
“Again, there is what they called additional works; it was reviewed again on the 25th of September, 2014 with the sum of N19.448 billion bringing the total N71.359 billion
“And this was as at 25th September, 2014. Governor Udom Emmanuel became governor on the 29th of May, 2015.
“I want to state here very clearly that the bulk of this money had been released and they didn’t achieve 50 percent of that road construction because as at the time that road was hurriedly commissioned early May to April, 2015 they were at kilometre 15 and that kilometre 15 did not have the wearing course, that is the final asphalt was not there.
“That final asphalt is what really holds the road firm,” the works commissioner explained.
Inyang-Eyen said it was not true for Akpabio’s camp to claim that the road had been worked up to kilometre 18 since the structure at Ikpe Annang which was not pulled down until the present government sourced the sum of N143 million to pay to the owner for it to be demolish in February 2017, was even at kilometre 15.16.
“And this structure at kilometre 15 that was a major challenge with a case in court was still standing and we were made to understand that he had gotten to kilometre to 18 and that this government did only three kilometres.
“But I am saying that even at kilometre 18 we couldn’t have done only three kilometres because we are now at kilometre 23 remaining two kilometres to Four Point By Sheraton.
“So, 18 minus 23 would have been at least five kilometres but that is not correct.
“What we have done is that since the coming to Governor Udom Emmanuel we have done the final asphalting of kilometre zero to fifteen and we are taking it from kilometre 15 to kilometre 23, that is 8 kilometres and the remaining 2 kilometres, we are paying compensation from Friday.
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“And most important of all, I want to be quoted otherwise that all these did not even take into consideration the flood, the outfall drains that were supposed to have been done on that road.
“It is this administration of Udom that is coming up to consider constructing drains because all the communities on that road are having flood situations.
“We are considering how to now do the outfall drains; so my question would be if you say this road was abandoned at N71billion and in three years it was supposed to have been finished in December 2014 and with two revisions, why was it not completed? Where did the money go to? the commissioner asked rhetorically.