By Peter Duru, Makurdi

Benue State would complement the efforts of federal government to fast-track the completion of the ongoing dualization of the 250km Makurdi-Otukpo-Enugu road.

Governor Hyacinth Alia made the commitment Thursday when he received in courtesy a delegation from the Federal Ministry of Works led by the Permanent Secretary Mr. Olufunsho Adebiyi.

He said the state government would compensate those whose property would be affected by the ongoing construction, assist in providing logistics and also divert traffic to ensure smooth and speedy execution of the work.

He said: “we are quite excited as a state for the speedy execution of this project and I want to thank you for the reassurance you have given us.

“Again, I am quite pleased that you have witnessed traffic at the Wurukum roundabout which has been quite busy and remains as such. So what the federal government pledged to do would be of tremendous support and of good to all of us here in the state.”

The Governor thanked the Federal Ministry of Works for granting Benue State government the permission to rehabilitate the Makurdi-Gboko road and to extend the dual carriage to Tyo-Mu bridge.

He also requested that the same approval be given to the state to extend the dual carriage to Federal Government Housing Estate to ensure easy flow of traffic and add beauty to Makurdi town noting that the Federal Government’s decision to accept to construct a flyover at Wurukum roundabout would be a huge addition to the development strides of his administration.

The Governor also assured that “we are going to do some orientations and public education to our people as well, and we have already considered diverting the road from the New bridge to the Old bridge.”

While appealing to the Federal Government to stick to the initial agreement of creating a bypass at Otukpo to help in the planned expansion of the town and avoid the massive destruction of both public and private property in the town, the Governor lauded President Bola Tinubu for his desire to ensure motorable roads across the country.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary explained that the project which was awarded in 2018 had phase one and two with the phase one from Akwanga, Lafia to Makurdi almost completed, while “the second phase starts from Makurdi to Ninth Mile with Benue axis having 178km out of the total number of 250km of the entire project.”

The Permanent Secretary stated that they were in the state to monitor the pace of the ongoing work which started last year and requested that the state government intervened in the areas of traffic control at the Wurukum roundabout and the compensation of people whose property would be affected by the ongoing work.