- President Tinubu emphasised that infrastructure development is critical to spurring economic growth
President Bola Tinubu has reiterated his administration’s commitment to ensuring the completion of the long-neglected East-West Road, a key route linking Nigeria’s South-South region to other parts of the country.
Speaking at the State House in Abuja on Tuesday while meeting a delegation from Bayelsa State, led by Governor Duoye Diri, the President acknowledged the infrastructural challenges posed by the road’s deteriorating condition.
He assured the delegation that his government is prioritising the rehabilitation project and will explore ways to expedite its completion.
The delegation, which included prominent figures such as King Alfred Diette-Spiff, the first military governor of the old Rivers State, as well as lawmakers and royal fathers from Bayelsa, visited the President to express gratitude for the recent appointment of Dame Esther Didi Walson-Jack as Head of the Civil Service of the Federation.
President Tinubu emphasised that infrastructure development is critical to spurring economic growth, particularly in regions like the Niger Delta, where the East-West Road serves as a vital artery for trade and transport. The road has been in a state of disrepair for years, prompting numerous calls for its reconstruction.
Earlier this year, on April 24, while addressing the National Council on Niger Delta, President Tinubu, through his representative, Minister of Steel Development Shuaibu Abubakar Audu, promised that the road would be fixed.
In September, Tinubu announced that the project would be handled by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), citing the company’s track record of quality work in Nigeria. The President made the announcement during a visit to CCECC’s headquarters in Beijing.
During the meeting with the Bayelsa delegation, the President affirmed his administration’s commitment to collaborating with state governments on infrastructural projects aimed at boosting economic development and prosperity across the country.