Newly elected chairman of Eleme local government area of Rivers state, Chief Obarilomate Ollor, has warned that he would shut down the Port Harcourt-Eleme-Onne road, should the federal government fail to start its repairs by July 2, 2021.
The chairman gave the warning Wednesday in Onne while addressing his people and other guests at his grand reception organised for him by his people as the new council boss in Eleme.
He said, “The Federal Government is unfair to Eleme land regarded as the heart beat of Nigeria’s economy; yet investors spinning the huge revenue for the government record pains and loses daily due to the death trap of the road.
“I am giving the Federal Government from this day June 17, 2021 to July 2, 2021 to commence total repair on the road or else we shall come out and shut it down for the authority to come and confront us.”
Obarilomate, who decried the deplorable condition of the road, lamented that transporters of bulk and containerised cargos lose their goods worth millions of Naira daily on the road due to potholes and gullies that force goods to trip off while drivers are on motion.
He lamented further that motorists and pedestrians experience hardship due to long hours gridlock or holdup caused by broken down trucks that find it difficult to drive through the various potholes and the broken down bridge that serves thousands of vehicles daily through the road.
The bridge called Akpajo Bridge is the only one on that failed road that links almost all the states in the South-South and South-East Zones such as Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Delta, Abia and Imo states among others.
The Eleme-Onne road also serves over 200 multinational companies in the Eleme Industrial Zone including the Port Harcourt two refineries, World Class Indorama Petrochemical and Fertiliser Company, Intels Nigeria Limited and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) among others.
He has also exposed the payment of N68 million to ghost workers by the council before his assumption of office on June 17, 2021, following his swearing in by the Rivers state Governor Nyesom Wike.
