Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom on Friday inaugurated the 9.3-kilometer-long Aro Umuejie-Osokwa-Omoba Road in Abia.
Emmanuel performed the ceremony at the instance of his Abia counterpart, Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu.
The road connects Abia with Akwa Ibom through Isialangwa South and Osisioma Ngwa communities to Aba, the economic hub of Abia.
In a speech, Emmanuel said that he and other governors of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were proud of Ikpeazu for his laudable projects.
He specifically lauded Ikpeazu “for building quality roads”, saying that he drove through a long stretch of roads in the area to the venue of the event without noticing any pothole.
“This shows the type of administration PDP governors run,” he said and urged the Abia residents to sustain their support for Ikpeazu.
Emmanuel, who also spoke on the performance of his administration on road, said the state constructed a 160-kilometer road to connect his state with Arochukwu in Abia.
Okezie said the new road was a continuation of his “Kinetic Abia project inspection and inauguration programme”.
He said that the road would provide great economic value to the state, linking up many communities and towns with Umuahia, the state capital.
He further said that the economic benefit of the road would rob off on the neighbouring Akwa Ibom and called for a more robust and harmonious relationship between the people of the two states.
He said he had learnt a lot from his Akwa Ibom counterpart, who he described as “a trans-generational leader, hence my invitation to him to inaugurate the road”.
In separate speeches, the lawmaker representing Obingwa/Osisioma/Ugwunagbo Federal Constituency, Rep. Solomon Adaelu and his Isiala Ngwa North/South Federal Constituency counterpart, Rep. Darlington Nwokocha, expressed gratitude to Ikpeazu for constructing the road.
They opined that it would help to enhance the economy of the benefitting communities and state in general.
The lawmaker representing Osisioma Ngwa North State Constituency, Mr Kenedy Njoku, described the road as historical.
According to him, this is the first time any government would construct a road in the constituency since 1991.
The state Chairman of PDP, Chief Asiforo Okere, also paid special tribute to Ikpeazu, saying that the party was proud of his achievements.
Okere said that the party was synonymous with quality projects and thanked the two governors for delivering democracy dividend to the people.
Other stakeholders from the area, including the Chairman of Isialangwa South Local Government Area, Chief Ikechukwu Anyataonwu, a former state House of Assembly member, Chief Kingsley Mgbeahuru, thanked Ikpeazu “for remembering the long abandoned road”.
They said that the road provides alternative link roads through the various Abia communities to Akwa Ibom.