The House of Representatives on Thursday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to include the Makurdi-Adoka-Ankpa Road in the 2016 Budget before presenting it to the National Assembly on Tuesday next week. The House, in line with the extant provision of its Standing Orders on “infrastructure items”, summarily passed the motion without debate by lawmakers.
The motion calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to attend to that major federal road was sponsored by the Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream), Hon. Mark Terseer Gbillah.
Mr. Gbillah, a telecommunications expert, also represents Gwer East/Gwer West Federal Constituency of Benue State in the House of Representatives.
In adopting the motion titled “Need for Reconstruction of the Makurdi-Naka-Adoka-Ankpa Road”, the House regretted that the dilapidated road linking the North to the South, has been abandoned since 1990.
The House in its resolution, said it was “aware that the Makurdi-Naka-Adoka-Ankpa road is a major link between the Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria and traverses 4 Federal Constituencies in Benue and Kogi States and also a major arterial route in the national network of roads as it services one of the largest industrial layouts in Nigeria.
“Also aware that the road, which was finished in a single course surface dressing treatment in 1990, became the preferred route to the Southern part of the country, thereby creating an opportunity for increased economic activities and development in the host communities”.
The House in passing the motion, raised the alarm that “for a merely surface dressed road that requires an asphaltic overlay after its 7-year lifespan, no maintenance has been carried out since its construction 25 years ago and the high volume of traffic on the road has caused its deterioration to the current state as most portions of the road are no longer motorable and road users are vulnerable to armed robbery attacks, accidents, vehicular damages and unreasonably long travel times as the 40km trip from Makurdi to Naka which ordinarily requires between 25 to 30 minutes travel time, now requires almost an hour and a half.”
Credit: Leadership
