East-West Road: FG extends road by 23km

The Federal Government has added 23 kilometres to the 338-kilometre East-West dual-carriage way.
The road, originally billed to terminate in Oron, Akwa Ibom State, will now extend to Calabar, Cross River State.
The Supervising Minister for the Niger Delta Affairs, Darius Ishaku, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State on Friday.
Ishaku said the Federal Government has, therefore, ordered the contractor to ensure completion by the first quarter of 2015.
Ishaku said that in addition to budgetary provisions and funds from African Development Bank towards the completion of the road, the Federal Government facilitated an additional loan from the China Exim-Bank.
He said the Oron-Calabar Road was the final section of the East-West Road, known as Section V.
He said: “When the project is completed, it will reduce time waste of almost two hours from Oron to Calabar.
“The construction is in two phases.
“The first has been awarded at the total sum of N165 billion, which includes almost 26 kilometres of bridge and deck-on-piles.”
He restated the commitment of the Federal Government to provide the fund to complete of the project.
Ishaku said the Ministry would strengthen its cooperation with the SURE-P to ensure the completion of the project.
The East-West Road project has reached 70 per cent completion after an assessment of the level of work done by the contractors.
The Federal Government has so far committed N248 billion as at March, with funds drawn from the Ministry’s annual budget, the SURE-P and the African Development Bank loan.
The Ministry has also obtained a $300 million loan from AfDB.
About 50 per cent of this loan was released and committed in the 2013 financial year, while the balance will be released in 2014.
The total contract sum for the East West Road was put at N349.87 billion.