The Senate Wednesday called on the Federal Ministry of Works to immediately reconstruct the collapsed Enugu-Port Harcourt Bridge.
This directive was sequel to the adoption of a motion sponsored by Senator Osita Ngwu (PDP, Enugu West) and co-sponsored by Senators Victor Umeh (LP, Anambra Central), Kelvin Chukwu (LP, Enugu East) and Okechukwu Ezea (LP, Enugu North) during Wednesday’s plenary.
Ngwu in his lead debate recalled the tragic collapse of the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway bridge on September 25, noting that there were no human casualties.
The lawmaker expressed concern that the collapse of the important flyover bridge had become a nightmare to road users and threat to the socio economic life of the people as the bridge serves as a major link between the Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway for commuters from Port Harcourt, Aba, Umuahia, and Abakaliki and also provides access to vehicular movement from Onitsha-Enugu expressway.
He further stressed that any further delay in the renovation of important public facilities could worsen the already severe socioeconomic problems facing not only Enugu state but also the entire South-East region.
In his contribution , Senator Olamilekan Adeola (APC, Ogun West) stated that the collapsed bridge had become a significant infrastructure concern in Nigeria and emphasised the need to include the project of this sort in the 2024 budget in order to prevent any resolution of the Senate from becoming ineffective.
In the same vein, Senator Abdullahi Yahaya (PDP, Kebbi North) urged Senators from Enugu State to present a thorough report on failed roads and collapsed bridge infrastructure in the state to the Senate Ad-hoc committee on collapsed road infrastructure in order to be properly captured in the 2024 budget.
Therefore, in advance of the forthcoming dry season, the Senate requested the Federal Government to give the ministry of works an urgent intervention budget for the repair and maintenance of the country’s essential road infrastructure.
In his remarks, Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, promised that repairs would be made to the collapsed bridge through required appropriation .
