Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Usani Usani, on Tuesday, said the Federal Government has concluded arrangements with the Chinese NEXIM Bank to finance the completion of the East-West highway dualization project.
Usani made this known while inaugurating the three additional members of the Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), in Abuja.
He said the dualization project was listed among priority projects of the Muhammadu Buhari’s administration and added that the Federal Executive Council had just approved the re-award of Section V of the East-West road from Oron to Calabar.
He said, “The East-West road alone had a budgetary allocation of N22 billion in the 2018 Budget. This is the highest ever in the last one decade of the establishment of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs.
“The inauguration of three additional members of the Governing Board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), was in response to the yearnings of the governors and the people of some states in the Niger Delta region whose positions have been vacant in the membership of the board since November 2016.”
Usani noted that the inclusion of the remaining three members from Ondo, Abia and Imo States in the board was to guarantee equal representation and even development of the various States in the Niger Delta region.
The three new members of the board were: Hon. Chuka Ama Nwauwa (Imo), Nwogu N. Nwogu (Abia) and Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa (Ondo).