By Ikechukwu Okaforadi
The Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) has expended the sum of N78 billion in the execution of 338 kilometer East/West road project, which is currently 80 per cent completed.
The Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Stephen Orise Oru disclosed this yesterday, while playing host to a delegation led by Kunle Ade Wahab, the member of the Board of SURE-P in charge of the East-West Road Project and Infrastructure Development.
Speaking during the visit, the Minister commended the management of the SURE-P for their commitment towards the completion of the road project.
“Without your support the East-West road project would come to a standstill. You turned out to be the backbone of this project and even the backbone of the President’s Transformation Agenda”, Oru said.
He said that the ministry will seek about N126 billion funds in the 2015 from SURE-P for the execution of other projects in the Niger Delta area.
Earlier in his remarks, Kunle Wahab explained that the SURE-P was created to assist the government in prudently utilizing the money realized from the reduction of subsidy in the prices of petroleum
products on projects that have direct impact on the wellbeing of Nigerians.
He noted that SURE-P started its intervention on the road project when it was only at 40 per cent completion stage and explained that the project is today 80 per cent completed.
“This was achieved due to the contributions of the competent staff of the Ministry, funding by SURE-P and the hand work of the contractors,” Wahab said.
It can be recalled that the East-West road project was awarded in 2006 by the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo, as a national priority to accelerate the development of the Niger Delta area.
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