By Peter Duru

MAKURDI—The Benue State government has appealed to the Federal Government to refund the N3.6billion spent on the construction of Otukpo Utonkon- Igumale ‘Trunk A’ road in the state.

The Commissioner for Works and Transport, Mr. John Ngbede who spoke yesterday, on behalf of the state government, in Makurdi, the state capital, lamented that reimbursement from the Federal Government was long overdue.

Ngbede explained that contract for the construction of the road in question was awarded at the inception of the present administration, but regretted that the Federal Government was yet to refund the money despite several reminders.

He said, “With the present economic crunch occasioned by the dwindling revenue accruing to the states, we have continued to plead that the N3.6 billion we expended on the trunk ’A’ be refunded to us but up till now we have not received anything.

“Our plea is that the money should be refunded to us so that we can embark on other meaningful projects and take care of other needs of our people.”

The Commissioner, who also decried the deplorable condition of federal roads in the state, particularly, the Makurdi-Gboko road, said work on the road, which had long been paid for by the Federal Government had been abandoned by the contractors.