Hon (Chief) Modestus Umenzekwe (Onwa Achina), a Chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and member, Federal Housing Authority (FHA) in this interview with CYRIACUS NNAJI, says it is time to market his party by showcasing the infrastructural projects built by the government in all the six Geopolitical zones in a detribalized manner through the hard working Minister, Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) Excerpts:
Your assessment of the just concluded Primaries by all the political parties in Nigeria especially your party, APC.
Expectedly it all went well, especially for our party, it all goes to show that our great party is one family, the primary was rancor free, there were alignments and re-alignments and in the end the best candidates won, most especially the emergence of our great leader, the Jagaban of Nigerian politics, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who emerged as our Presidential Flag-bearer. So generally the entire primaries were well coordinated and the best candidates emerged.
What next now that the flag-bearers of the parties in the 2023 General Election in both the states and federal have been chosen?
As a Chieftain of the party, it is obviously significant for me and you to begin to market our great party, APC; we have known our opponents, we have also known our own presidential candidate, they are all formidable; they are no pushover, therefore there is no room underrating anybody. The real work has just commenced. If you are unbiased you in your assessment, you would see that APC has done really well especially in the housing and road infrastructure which we have delivered in a detribalize way through our workaholic minister, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), the Honourable minister of Works and Housing. These master class infrastructure is going to be one of the selling points of our campaign.
Your party did what it undertook to do as a government, why should people clap for you?
You speak as if you are a stranger in Nigeria, our predecessor in government promised the same and did nothing in 16 years, but we came, saw and conquered, we did not just deliver, but we delivered more than we promised. APC delivered through Fashola, roads and housing infrastructure in all the six Geopolitical zones in a detribalized manner, even zones that did little in bringing in the administration.
Can you tell us in real terms some of these projects?
Our Progressive government under the auspices of President Muhammadu Buhari has handled about 1,019 roads and bridge projects nationwide and even within 18 days towards the end of 2021, it commissioned 941 kilometers of roads connecting 10 states across five geo-political zones which are impacting positively on the lives of the people in many more ways; and that is just the tip of the iceberg. Bear in mind that Road and housing infrastructure are not the only one, we have not talked about rail where this government has unleashed massive projects for economic development and movement persons and consignments.
You are really conversant with these projects. Now the election is fast approaching, do you think your party, APC, has covered the entire country with their projects?
First of all you know we have six Geopolitical zones in Nigeria, the North Central made up of Benue, Kogi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger and Plateau, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, if you wish to add that. The Northeast made up of Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe States. We also have Northwest: Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Jigawa, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna.
In the south we have Southwest: Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo and Ondo; in Southeast we have Anambra, Enugu, Ebony, Imo, and Abia; while South-south has Rivers, Akwa-Ibom, Cross Rivers, Edo, Delta and Bayelsa. These zones have been touched in a great way through infrastructure and I don’t think they will deny us their votes based on our pedigree of performance.
I want you to further break it down, so that we can really see in clear terms what your party has done or still doing in terms of your claims.
Okay, let’s start with the Southeast. I always tell people, when you put a detribalized person in office he would carry out his job without fear or favour, President Muhammadu Buhari and Babatunde Raji Fashola have been most exemplary in this regard, despite what happened in 2015 and 2019, they still got a fair share from the infrastructure distribution by the Federal Government of Buhari. The ministry in the past seven years executed Sections 1 to 4 of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, Construction of Ihiala-Orlu Road in Isseke Town-Amafuo-Ulli with Spur (Ihiala-Orlu-Umuduru Section) in Anambra State; Rehabilitation of Oba-Nnewi-Okigwe Road Route Section II: Anambra/Imo States Border-Ibinta-Okigwe Road; Construction of Oseakwa Bridge in Anambra State; Rehabilitation of Old Enugu – Port-Harcourt Road (Agbogugu-Abia Border Spur to Mmaku); Rehabilitation of Nsukka-Obollo-Ikem-Ehamufu-Nkalagu Road in Enugu State; Rehabilitation of Owerri-Umuahia Road Sections I, II & III Imo/Abia States; Rehabilitation of Bende – Arochukwu – Ohafia Road Section I in Abia State; Rehabilitation of Abakaliki-Afikpo Road Sections I and II in Ebonyi State; Nenwe-Oduma-Mpu (Enugu State)-Uburu (Ebonyi State), among others.
Remember the master class project, the Second River Niger Bridge which consists of two secondary bridges at Amakom Village Road and Atani Road, as well as approach roads from Asaba and Onitsha, a new cloverleaf interchange at Onitsha-Owerri Road, and a toll station. There is the completion and commissioning in 2018 of the Zik Mausoleum in Awka, Anambra State, 22 years after construction started. Should I add the Akanu Ibiam International Airport which was Left to rotten by the previous administration? The Concession of Onitsha Inland River Port is now in its final stages.
Now in the Southwest series of maintenance work on the Third Mainland Bridge, Falomo Bridge, Ojuelegba Bridge because Lagos has the most bridges in the country. We have more than 67 road projects in Southwest. The roads include 19 in Lagos State, 14 in Oyo State, 12 in Osun State, nine in Ogun and Ondo states. Of the 67 projects, 19 are roads maintenance, excluding the regular repairs carried out by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA). Apart from the massive construction on Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Benin-Ore-Ajebamidele-Shagamu road and Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta expressway, abandoned for years, there is the critical 35km Tin Can Island-Mile two-Oshodi road was awarded to Dangote Construction Company; this is a 10-lane highway constructed with concrete, are you with me? Should I go on?
Go Head…
Let’s go to the South-south. The joint border bridge in Ekok/Mfum, Cross River State which is a major international link to Cameroon; Ikom Bridge which was now a gateway to the northern part of the country through Katsina-Ala in Benue State had all been completed, Obudu Road in Benue and Cross River States. The Bonny-Bodo project construction which has four major bridges and eight minor ones are done and dusted. We also have the Isaac Boro Bridge in Rivers State. The East-West road project was added to the ministry’s already studded road project portfolio. The road is a 328 kilometre road that starts from Effurun in Delta State and transverses the Niger Delta, Rivers State and ends up in Oron in Akwa-Ibom State, while Section 5 of the road is from Oron to Calabar in Cross River State.
Of course Calabar, Rivers, and Onne Ports have witnessed significant infrastructure upgrades and fiscal incentives to promote their attractiveness. An LPG tanker berthed in the Eastern Ports (Rivers Port) for the first time ever in October 2019. That year Onne Port also received its first container ship in twelve years, while Calabar Port received its first container vessels in eleven years.
North Central. The APC Government is on Loko-Oweto Bridge in Benue; Langtang-Wase Bridge in Plateau; We repaired Tantawu Bridge, we finished that in Niger State; Iddi Bridge connecting Benue and Taraba States together; we are also in Ilorin-Jebba Road, among others. There is also the rehabilitation of Vandeikya-Obudu-Obudu Cattle Ranch Road (Vandeikya-Obudu Section) in Benue. Let us not forget Abuja, the Capital Territory. The 764-Units Federal Housing Authority (FHA) Residential Layouts (the Abuja Mass Housing Scheme) in Zuba, Abuja, is a signature project to be remembered for ages.
In Northeast, we have the Azare – Potiskum Road in Bauchi and Yobe States; we are on Chanchangi Bridge, we’re on Konto-kafi Bridge, we are on Langtang-Wase Bridge, The rehabilitation of Nguru-Gashua-Bayamari Road, Section II, are credits to APC.
Northwest is not left out, there is the rehabilitation of Sokoto-TambuwaI-Jega-Kontagora-Makera Section in Sokoto and Kebbi States, length put at 155km, we have the Kebbi-Sokoto-Kontagora-Jega – Yawuri Road in Sokoto and Kebbi States; Shuarin-Azare Road in Jigawa; the Abuja– Kaduna–Zaria- Kano Road; dualisation of the Kano-Katsina road phases I and II in Kano and Kaduna States. There is also the Kano-Maiduguri Road linking Kano-Jigawa-Bauchi-Yobe and Borno States Section II, 177.77 km, and also the Tamburawa Bridge in Kano.
In Housing we have about 68 Units of Housing comprising, 28-Units of one, two bedroom, 16-units of three bedroom and 24 units in condominium in Edo State, we have 76 housing units in Dutse, Jigawa State commissioned on April 14, 2022,
Currently, no less than 4,652 housing units had been completed or ongoing across the six geopolitical zones.
The FHA has undertaken five key projects, among others within the last five years and delivered within the same period 778 housing units in Oshogbo, Owerri, Gombe, Kaduna, Lagos and Port Harcourt. Also, over 2,200 housing units are currently being completed in Apo, Abuja, Odukpani in Calabar and Yenagoa in Bayelsa State and Awka, Anambra State, many are completed while others are at their completion stage. Also, a total of 764 housing units are been constructed in the Zuba Mass Housing Project site, which is at is completion stage.
The authority is also currently carrying out direct development of 330 units of various house types with complementary infrastructure in six states across the country namely: Awka – Anambra State, Gombe – Gombe State, Makurdi – Benue State and Osogbo – Osun State, among others.
There is also the construction of the 17-storey headquarters of the federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) in Abuja which has reached its peak. The N39.2bn project is certainly going to be one of the landmark buildings that will shape and define the skylines of the city of Abuja after its completion.
How has the part been able to fund these projects considering the economic downturn?
It is a sign of government driven and propelled by ideas. Let me shock you, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing in February this year received a symbolic cheque of N210billion of SUKUK funding for the execution of critical road projects across the country, two other Ministries benefited from a total of N250 billion 2021 SUKUK. The SUKUK, which is a form of Public Private Partnership (PPP), was among the funding options adopted by the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari to fund the construction of critical roads in Nigeria.
It will interest you that at the presentation ceremony, the Honourable Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, gave an account on how his ministry spent the previous SUKUK funds given to the ministry. According to him the first SUKUK funds of N100 billion, released in 2017, 25 roads, covering 482 kilometres length were delivered; the second SUKUK of 2018 had 28 roads covering 643 kilometres length delivered, while the third SUKUK funds of N162 billion covered 44 highway and bridge projects with the total length of 757 kilometres covered across the nation.
These are just a few of our landmark projects and when you look at the man behind the mask, Fashola, he appears so quiet and gentle, you will not hear noise, he goes about doing his job in such a detribalized manner.
What are you telling your party supporters as they go into the campaign period?
I urge our party faithful and indeed Nigerian politicians and their supporters to adhere to politics without bitterness. Party politics is just a democratic means of selecting those to be at the helms of affairs of our dear country, therefore in as much as we belong to different parties, we should not forget that we are brothers and sisters. There should be no violence, vituperations, undue attacks on opponents and all that, let us play according to the rule. I know in the end APC will carry the day.
