Akpabio’s Road Project Lies Abandoned Despite N400m Allocation in 2024
Pecohub The construction of Ediene Obong Road in Akwa Ibom State remains unfinished and abandoned, despite getting a N400 million allocation in the 2024 budget.
Pecohub understands that this road construction was facilitated by Senate President Godswill Akpabio and the federal government’s Constituency and Consolidated Capital Projects.
While the Federal Co-operative College, Ibadan, is the implementing agency for the road construction, the overseeing ministry is the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.
Tracka, a digital platform that allows Nigerians to monitor the status of federal and state projects in their communities, revealed on Sunday that work on the project has been stalled since October 2024, when construction stopped.
In a post on X, Tracka noted that the “deplorable state of Ediene Obong Road has caused immense hardship” to residents.
“In April 2024, Fortera Nigeria Ltd began work, but this grounded to a halt in October 2024, leaving the site abandoned with no equipment on-site to indicate a return,” Tracka stated.
“The poorly designed drainage system exacerbates flooding during rain, forcing community members to evacuate their homes and suffer significant losses.”
Tracka also noted that community members said the road had got worse over time, with mounds of sand and stagnant water pools breeding mosquitoes and posing health risks.
“This neglect has left the community frustrated and vulnerable.”
One of the pictures of the abandoned road, which Tracka posted, shows heaps of gravel and unused drainage slabs on one side, while another image captures sections of the road submerged in brown water.
When Pecohub checked GovSpend, a platform that gives access to public spending at all levels of government in Nigeria, we found that the Federal Co-Operative College, Ibadan, the implementing agency for the road construction, spent at least N15 billion on projects in 2024.
Pecohub also found that Fortera Nigeria Limited, the company contracted for the road construction, has received a total of N3.6 billion from 12 agencies for projects.
In 2024 alone, Fortera was paid a total of N2.2 billion for projects. However, of the nine series of payments made to the company between March and December, none was for the road.
The three payments related to Akwa Ibom were for the balance of the provision of security vehicles for the police in Ika, the balance for the supply of drugs and medical equipment to hospitals and health care centres in Ikot Ukeh Etoh communities, and a 30% mobilisation payment for the same medical supplies project in those communities.
