A total of N20 billion captured on this year’s Federal budget is soon to be refunded to Akwa Ibom Government as part of its expenses on the construction of Federal roads in the state.

The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Works, Hon. Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi, dropped this hint Friday when he paid a courtesy visit on Governor Godswill O. Akpabio at Governor’s Office, Uyo. He stated that a balance of N23 billion refund would be inserted in next year’s budget for the state government.

Ozomgbachi, accompanied by the Deputy Chairman of the committee, Hon. Mohammed Wudil, and other committee members, commended Akwa Ibom Government for the rehabilitation and construction of Federal roads in the state. He urged other state governors in the country to emulate the Akwa Ibom example by obtaining presidential approval on construction of the roads.

He explained that the committee members embarked on the nationwide tour as part of their oversight function in a bid to monitor and evaluate the quality of jobs done by the contractors to ensure such conform with the designs and specifications laid down in the contractual agreement.

Said Ozomgbachi: “There are development challenges everywhere in the world. Every year, the Federal Government allocates huge sums of money to development projects. National Assembly is mandated to monitor and evaluate the performance of contractors on roads project awarded by Federal Ministry of Works to ascertain the jobs are carried out according to designs and specifications by the contractors.

“There was an outcry of deplorable Federal roads in the country. We embark on the tour to ensure that the quality and standards of jobs are not compromised. In fact, the committee has raised bar on performance by the contractors. The committee has introduced a new technology to determine the rate of concrete and other associated materials used in the roads construction to know if such conform with the contractual obligations.”

Governor Akpabio lauded the effort of the committee members for going round the state testing the roads and ensuring that the contractors comply with the bill of quantities and other laid-down contractual obligations.

He announced that Akwa Ibom Government has so far spent more than N100 billion on the rehabilitation and construction of Federal roads in the state, regretting the delay in the refunds of the said amount to the state government.

The governor stated that the state government has obtained presidential approval for the construction of Uyo-Oron Road worth N10 billion; Uyo-Ikot Ekpene-Aba Road worth N50 billion in addition to the earlier presidential approval of N28 billion gotten for the construction of the same road.

He pleaded with the committee members to assist the state government in recovering the money so far spent on Federal roads project, and used the opportunity to call on them to cooperate with President Jonathan in the delivery of democratic dividends to Nigerians.

•Photo shows Hon. Ozomgbachi.

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