Regarding the controversy surrounding the alleged commissioning of the Abraka-Oben road by the Minister of Regional Development, Abubakar Momoh, Patrick Asowerien, the commissioner for Edo State on the Niger Delta Development Commission Board, has offered some clarifications.
Members of Ugu Youths Development for Change demonstrated against the minister’s purported commissioning of a “non-existent road” on March 3. The road’s commissioning, according to youth coordinator Monday Osemwenkhae, was a deliberate attempt to hide the region’s ongoing neglect of the greatest gas resource in West Africa.
On Friday, however, Asowerien stated that the minister had commissioned the first section of the 9.8-kilometer Abraka-Oben road, with plans to begin the second and third phases of the project, adding that the narrative being presented by the protesting youths was misleading.
He stated that NDDC and other partners were working together to continue to improve the living standards of the people.
Asowerien said, “No one has said that the federal government has completed the Oben road section of the project.”
“Construction has not yet started on the Orhionmwon section of the road which connects to the Benin-Abraka highway.”
Commending Momoh for including these crucial link roads in the ministry’s budget for 2025, he assured that the construction of the roads connecting Edo and Delta states is being prioritised.
