Akwa Ibom to receive N20bn refund for rehabilitating federal roads

Akwa Ibom government is to receive N20 billion this year as refund for constructing federal roads, according to Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi, chairman, House of Representatives’ Committee on Works.

Ozomgbachi, who made this known in Uyo, said the balance of N23 billion would be included in next year’s budget, adding that it would also be refunded to the state government.

He said the committee members embarked on the nation-wide tour as part of their oversight function in a bid to monitor and evaluate the quality of jobs done by the contractors to ensure such conform to the designs and specifications laid down in the contractual agreement.

“There are development challenges everywhere in the world. Every year, the Federal Government allocates huge sums of money to development projects. National Assembly is mandated to monitor and evaluate the performance of contractors on road projects awarded by Federal Ministry of Works to ascertain the jobs are carried out according to designs and specifications by the contractors.

“There was an outcry of deplorable federal roads in the country. We embarked on the tour to ensure that the quality and standards of jobs are not compromised.”