BRACED Commission urges FG to expedite work on East-West Road

Lauds Tinubu on Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road
The BRACED Commission Governors Council, made up of governors of Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Edo and Delta states, yesterday, urged the Federal Government to expedite work on the East-West Road.

The governors, however, commended President Bola Tinubu for commencing the construction of the coastal road from Lagos to Calabar and appealed for its speedy completion, saying that the road work should also commence from the Calabar end.

The BRACED Commission, in a communique at the end of its 12th meeting held at the Government House, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State yesterday, highlighted the need for member-states of the commission to develop better regional interconnectivity through road, rail, water and air systems.

In the communiqué, read by Edo State Governor and Chairman of the Council, Godwin Obaseki, the governors also commended the Federal Government for the establishment of the National Agriculture Fund, promising to work with the agency to improve the economic development of the region, particularly in entrepreneurship and food sufficiency.

They also condemned the killing of 17 military officers and expressed condolences to the Commander-in-Chief, the military hierarchy and the families of the bereaved officers.

It, however, called on the Federal Government to set up a high-powered commission of inquiry to unearth what transpired to avoid such occurrences in the future.

The communiqué partly reads: “The Council called on the Federal Government to properly define the missions of the troops deployed to the region. Involvement in community, boundary, business, or family disputes should not be part of the military operational mission. The Council also appealed to the military to allow the villagers to return home and resume their normal life.

“The meeting commended the Bayelsa State government on its cooperation with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC) to build peace architecture to curb crimes and prevent violence in the state.

“The Council welcomed the ongoing efforts of the states to promote financial literacy and skills acquisition among women and youths to promote the growth of small and medium enterprises in the region and directed that the training and ongoing efforts should be sustained throughout the region.”

“The Council noted the poor state of electricity in the region despite huge investments in the power sector by successive governments of the region. It called on the power distribution firms to work more closely with the states to ensure the operationalisation of the new Electricity Act of 2023.”

It also called on the Federal Government to embark on a comprehensive review of the power sector, particularly regarding transmission.”