Members of the Senate Committee on Works have sharply criticized the handling of the Eleme-Ogoni section of the East-West Road in Rivers State, saying the project appears abandoned despite substantial funding.
On the second day of their oversight tour of federal road projects in the region, lawmakers visited the Eleme Bridge and surrounding areas. What they found left them visibly unimpressed — with progress nearly nonexistent and safety measures absent.
“This bridge project has been almost abandoned,” said Senator Barinada Mpigi, who chairs the committee. “We cannot continue to allow taxpayers’ money and the appropriations from the National Assembly to waste like this.”
Mpigi condemned the project’s contractor, RCC, for poor performance, noting that billions of naira have already been allocated, yet there’s little physical progress to show.
“Several sums of money have been given out to RCC, yet we are not seeing any sign that this project will be completed. The man we met on-site claimed to be the project engineer, but he had no answers to our questions,” he added.
The Senator also pointed to past tragedies on the Eleme Bridge and expressed concern over the complete lack of safety precautions. “This is unacceptable,” he said.
Only one out of five planned bridges on the stretch is even being mentioned, he said, and construction speed is far behind expectations. “We asked them how many kilometres they can complete in a month, and they said 2.5km, whereas other companies are doing 1 to 2km daily on similar projects.”
The Senate Committee has now directed that RCC’s Managing Director, along with Ministry of Works officials, be summoned to appear on-site during the committee’s next visit to explain the project’s status.
