As reactions continue to trail the virtual commissioning of the yet to be completed East-West Road, spanning from Trailer Park in Eleme Local Government Area to Eleme junction intersection by President Bola Tinubu, the socio-cultural organization of Eleme ethnic nationality, Rivers State, O’Ela Obo Eleme has said it would take the pictorial view of the road attached with a protest letter to the presidency and office of the National Security Adviser to disprove the claims that the reconstruction of the road has been completed.
President General of the group, Elder Israel Abbey who spoke exclusively to The Trumpet on Tuesday blamed the minister of works, Dave Umahi for selling a dummy to the president that the road was ready for commissioning when the opposite was the case.
Abbey wondered how the road where only the foundational basework of one lane is nearing completion could be said to be ready for commissioning and was commissioned.
“So we are going to take a picture showing the completion level of that road and send it by courier to the Presidency and to NSA office to prove to them that Dave Umahi, the works minister has told a lie about the project”, Elder Abbey stated.
Meanwhile, the apex socio-cultural organisation of the Ogoni people in Rivers State, KAGOTE, has lambasted the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi for misleading the president into commissioning the uncompleted project.
KAGOTE in a statement signed by its president, Emma Deeyah said the Eleme Junction to Onne section of the East-West Road listed as commissioned was still under construction as at the time the commissioning was done virtually by President Tinubu.
The body further criticised Umahi for misleading the president into carrying out such action.
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“We are to state here that as of the evening of Sunday, 1st June 2025, work on only one side of the dual carriageway is ongoing. The concrete pavement has not covered the entire length of the road. There are four(4) overhead bridges at various stages of piling works. Not one has been completed.
“We believe that the Honourable Minister of Works misled Mr. President into commissioning a road still under construction, we hereby condemn this act in totality,” he said.
KAGOTE further expressed worries that the action of Umahi could be a signal that he intends to scale down the scope of the job, warning that such attempts will not be tolerated by the Ogoni people.
“KAGOTE also believes that by his recent action of deliberately misleading Mr. President, the minister has given credence to concerns in many quarters that he is planning to scale down the scope of the project.
“We hereby warn that any attempt to do so will be strongly resisted by Ogoni people,” he said.
The Eleme Section of the East West Road is a dual carriage way and major arterial infrastructural project of the present administration and when completed is expected to serve commuters from Akwa Ibom State apart from those from about eight local governments areas of Rivers State.
The road is also expected to evacuate men and materials from the Port Harcourt Refineries, the Indorama Petrochemical plant, the Onne Ports and Oil&Gas Free Zone located along this axis.
The group believes that the speedy completion of the road would go a long way in assuring the Ogoni people of the readiness of the federal government to partner with and develop local infrastructures in the area which has been in the forefront of their demands for better integration.
The completion of the road is also one of the conditions listed by the Ogoni stakeholders when they met with Tinubu at Aso Villa, Abuja towards the resumption of oil exploration activities in Ogoniland.
