By Chukwudi Obasi, Abuja
The House of Representatives has urged the Ministry of Works to allocate at least one billion naira in the 2025 budget estimates for constructing the Onitsha–Atani–Ossomala–
It mandated the Committee on Appropriations to ensure that the sum is allocated in the 2025 Budget estimate for constructing the Onitsha–Atani–Ossomala–
It also mandated the Committee on Legislative Compliance to ensure compliance.
These resolutions followed the adoption of a motion titled, “Need to Allocate One Billion Naira to Onitsha–Atani–Ossomalla–
Decimated by flood in the 2025 Budget Estimates” sponsored by Hon. Afam Victor Ogene.
The House noted that the Onitsha–Atani–Ossomala–
It also noted that the road’s economic value in terms of the commercial, oil, and gas activities on its corridor has made it a priority project for the Federal Government, and the road has consistently been in the Budget for the last ten years.
The House worried that the construction work was stalled due to poor budgetary provisions and insufficient funding, with the 2024 budget allocation being N80m only.
It is also worrying that the poor funding for road construction and delays in project execution have reportedly led to floods ravaging the earthworks and reversing the progress already gained. Ditches dot the stretch of the road and worsen its deplorable condition, thereby severing access to many adjacent communities.
The House was disturbed that the impassable and dilapidated state of the road, worsened by the recent devastating flood, which has cut off five communities from the rest of the Ogbaru Federal Constituency, has enabled banditry, kidnapping, and armed robbery to thrive along the corridor.
It said it was cognizant of the urgent need to expedite action on completing the construction work to reconnect the affected communities to the rest of the Federal Constituency, restore the road’s viable economic contributions to our national economy, and eradicate all forms of criminality on the route.
