Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has stated that his government will commence the reconstruction of the Ekeakpara- NNPC DEPOT – OWERRINTA ROAD by next week.
The Governor gave this assurance on July 5th at the Governor’s Lodge Aba while receiving in audience, a delegation of the leadership of the Stakeholders of the NNPC Depot Osisioma who came to pay him a courtesy call.
According to the Governor, his administration can no longer wait for the Federal Government whose responsibility it is to fix the federal road known as the Old Aba Owerri Road and has subjected the people of our state who live and do their business around that area to untold hardship.
The road which crisscrosses the two local governments of Osisioma Ngwa and Isiala Ngwa South bears great economic significance as it is the gateway into the sprawling Osisioma Industrial Area and most importantly, the only NNPC Depot in Abia State. The road also leads to the headquarters of Osisioma Ngwa LGA and passes through the popular Ekeakpara Market as well as several communities where heavy agricultural activities take place.
He assured that the Chinese company that will handle the construction understands that the road is special as it carries heavy traffic occasioned by trucks laden with petroleum products going to and from the NNPC Depot at Osisioma, and as such will do an excellent job.
The Governor stated further that the road will be complemented by the ongoing works at the Osisioma Flyover and Aba Owerri Road where work has commenced in full.
He assured the delegation that he will fulfill his promise of donating a vehicle to assist them patrol petroleum pipelines to guard against vandalism.
On issues of security of petroleum tanker drivers and the incessant harassment by security agencies, the Governor assured that he will personally take up the issue with the Inspector General of Police. He thanked the unions for identifying with him during the last elections.
Earlier, the leader of the delegation and Chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) Aba Depot Branch, Prince Bobby Eberechi Dick told the Governor that they came to first, congratulate him on his re-election and wish him well in his second tenure and also to draw his attention to the deplorable situation of the Ekeakpara NNPC DEPOT Road, a situation that has made their business very difficult. He pleaded with the Governor to kindly intervene even as the road is a federal road.
He also asked the Governor to assist them with vehicles to help them patrol the pipelines to curb vandalism which has affected the pumping of diesel and kerosene to the Depot by the management of the NNPC as well as to intervene in the incessant harassment of their members by security agents.
The delegation was made up of members of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) and Independent Marketers Branch (IMB) all from the Osisioma Depot.
