Ikpeazu Has Performed Well, Ready To Finish Strong — Govt Media Team

The media team of Abia State government comprising of the Commissioner for Information, Dr. Eze Chikamnayo, Commissioner for Documentation and Strategic Communications, Mr Ugochukwu Emezue and the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Sir Onyebuchi Ememanka have applauded the state government under the leadership of Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu for putting up sterling performance in the last six years, expressing optimism that he will finish strong.

At a joint press conference by the government media team in Umuahia on Wednesday, they said the governor is committed to handing over to Abians an Infrastructurally sound and economically rejuvenated State by the time his tenure expires in 2023.

The Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Dr. Eze Chikamnayo who described Governor Ikpeazu as a generational achiever said that the present administration is focused and nothing can distract it.

He said that the Governor has done a lot in areas such as trade and investment, Small and Medium Enterprises Development with Abia retated as the SME capital of Nigeria.

In the area of road construction and Reconstruction, the information commissioner noted that more than 80 roads have been constructed under the Ikpeazu adminstration.

He revealed that before the emergence of Ikpeazu in 2015, roads in Aba were in a state of emergency while most businesses were comatose.

The Information Boss said that the administration of Gov Ikpeazu had been up to date with the payment of counterpart funding which has made it possible for the state to embark on erosion remediation projects and other interventions across the state through NEWMAP.

The Commissioner used the opportunity to inform that the Telegraph newspapers will on Friday this week, honour Governor Ikpeazu as the SME Governor of the year and described the Governor as a generational leader as attested to by the Senate President.

Contributing, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Onyebuchi Ememanka said that plans have been concluded to reclaim the failed portions of Faulks road, insisting that the road is one of the star projects of the Ikpeazu adminstration, assuring that the technical issues which led to the failure of the project have been identified and will be dealt with once the dry season sets in fully. According to the CPS, Faulks Road was never completed and handed over by the Contractor and noted that because the road was opened for use by our people before the application of the final ashphalt layer known as the wearing course, it accelerated the pressure on the road.

He noted that work on Port Harcourt road which is a six lane project is currently ongoing with drainages already completed. The strategy is to compete earthworks on the entire road and then get ready for use, as quickly as possible, in the interim, end to end asphalting of one of the lanes to ameliorate the difficulties experienced by road users, and then work on the remaining lanes.

Sir Ememanka described as malicious falsehood the claims by Hon. Obinna Ichita of the State House of Assembly that the State Government had fully accessed 56 Million dollars from the World Bank for the Ndiegoro Project and challenged him to provide any proof thereof.

On the Osisioma flyover, the Chief press Secretary, said 85% of the project has been achieved and that workers will return to site next week, disclosing that what is remaining is basically stone basing and asphalting.

He noted however that until the Federal Government contractors handling the rehabilitation of the Enugu – PH highway complete that portion of the project, the flyover cannot be put to use, because the flyover and the entire interchange must align with the on going works on the Federal road. He assured that the flyover project will be delivered and used during the life of the Ikpeazu administration.

Contributing, Commissioner for Documentation and Strategic Communications, Mr Ugochukwu Emezue, noted that Governor Ikpeazu few days ago, led a team to South Africa for the signing of the 50m dollars Power project between AFRIXIM Bank and Geometric Power to fund the operationalization of the Aba Independent Power Project, as well as to personally sign an agreement between the State Government and the Nigeria Export Promotion Council for the building of Export Expansion Program Resource Center in Aba. This agreement will give Abia State the platform to benefit hundreds of Naira from the Presidential Economic Recovery and Growth Program.

Mr Emezue said apart from building roads, the Governor has also invested a lot in human capital development, saying that Human capital development is critical to development of any Society.