From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Governor Dr Alex Otti of Abia State has appealed to the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Abubakar Momoh, to expedite the mobilisation of contractors to resume work and finalise the neglected NDDC projects dispersed throughout Abia State.
Otti was speaking when he received in the audience, the minister and his team who were in the state to inspect road projects of the ministry and that of the NDDC in the state.
The governor who regretted that Abia is a major beneficiary of abandoned NDDC projects, noted that some other NDDC roads in the state were in deplorable conditions and needed attention.
Otti said the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the NDDC were important to the Niger Delta region and appreciated the minister for visiting Abia for the road inspection tour.
“I want to say that the Niger Delta Ministry and of course the Niger Delta Development Commission, both of them are very important to us because these are two institutions that represent us at the same time even though we own one, that is the NDDC but the ministry we do not own.
“You also chose to inspect the road projects under you and under the NDDC, so we are quite pleased. These agencies are very important to us as interventionists in the normal course of the business of governance. The truth is that any road done by either the ministry or agency under you is a plus to the state and we will not go back to it.”
The governor noted that the major problem that militated against the completion of some of the NDDC road projects was long outstanding debts for jobs executed, and appealed to the minister to take a critical look at the issue with a view to getting the projects back on stream.
The minister had earlier told the governor they were in the state to inspect projects embarked upon in the state by the Ministry of the Niger Delta Affairs and the NDDC.
He lauded governor Otti for the heightened security in Abia at the moment and appealed to him to continue to make peace in the region a top priority for the economic prosperity of the people.
He said the ministry is not in competition with states but rather to collaborate with them to achieve meaningful development, adding that there should be a robust relationship between the two to achieve results.