The Federal Government has refuted the statement credited to
the Governors of the states in the South-east, that the region has been shortchanged
in the implementation of infrastructural projects, saying there are 69 ongoing
projects in the region alone, reports ITREALMS.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai
Mohammed, issued the rebuttal in Ilorin on Thursday, at a lecture by Mr. Festus
Keyamo, spokesman for the President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organization.
''While this claim may have made headlines, it is totally
untrue. His Excellencies were either misquoted or they were quoted of context.
Either way, this allegation flies in the face of available
evidence,'' he said, promising to publish THE full list of the projects and the
state-by-state breakdown.
Alhaji Mohammed said no part of the country, including the
South-east, has been left out of the massive infrastructural projects of this Administration,
adding that from the proceeds of the 100 billion Naira Sukuk Bond alone, the
South-east got 16.6 billion Naira worth of projects, just alike any other zone.
He listed the four projects covered by the Sukuk Bond
proceeds In the South-east as Enugu-Port Harcourt Dual Carriageway Section II
(Umuahia Tower-Aba Township Rail/Road Bridge Crossing in Abia State; Enugu-Port
Harcourt Dual Carriageway Section I (Lokpanta-Umahia Tower) in Abia State;
Outstanding section of the Onitsha-Enugu Expressway (Amansea - Enugu State
Border) and the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway Section III (Enugu-Lokpanta) in
Enugu State
The Minister said he had gone on a media inspection of the
roads, as well as the Aba-Port Harcourt section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway
and the 2nd Niger Bridge, where the contractor has completed the first three
phases of the project.
''In conclusion, the South-east has never had it so good in
the area of infrastructure. Had the previous Administrations done even half of what
we are doing now in that region, no one will be complaining today. It is
alright to ask for more, but it is unfair to say nothing -has been done,'' he
said.
Ayo Midele/GEE
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