03/11/2024
The South east never voted for Muhammadu Buhari, but he never cared. In fact, he appointed them to important strategic places in the country. He was also able to initiate and complete the following projects in the region.
▪︎ Rehabilitation of Akanu Ibiam International Airport, Enugu, Completed
▪︎ Re-construction of Port Harcourt - Maiduguri Rail Line, linking the South Eastern States to a planned new Sea Port in Bonny and to Northern Nigeria (Ongoing).
▪︎ 2.8MW Solar Power Plant at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State under the Energizing Education Programme (EEP).
▪︎ Ariaria International Market (Aba) Independent Power Plant supplying electricity to 4,000 shops in the market under the Energizing Economies Initiative (EEI).!
▪︎ Brand new $5.5m Medical Diagnostics Center in Federal Medical Center (FMC) Umuahia under the NSIA Healthcare Investments. (Completed and Operational).
▪︎New Air Force Base in Owerri and Naval Base in Oguta, both in Imo State.
▪︎ Revitalization of the moribund Fertilizer Blending Plant in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State which now supplies NPK Fertilizer to farmers in the State and beyond under the Presidential Fertilizer Initiative (PFI).
▪︎ Financial Close on the ANOH Gas Processing Plant, with a processing capacity of 300 million standard cubic feet of gas and 1,200MW of electricity generation potential, in Imo State which is a Joint Venture between Seplat Petroleum Development Company and the Nigerian Gas Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPC Limited).
▪︎ President Buhari approved the investment of $10 million by the Federal Government into the Waltersmith Modular Refinery in Imo State, with a production capacity of 270 million liters of petrol annually. First phase was commissioned by President Buhari in 2020.
▪︎ Imo State was selected as one of 7 pilot States for the Special-Agro Industrial Processing Zones (SAPZ) Programme, which is a $500m partnership between the FGN, AfDB Group and other stakeholders including the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Bank of Industry, with the goal of establishing modern agro-processing centres across the country.
▪︎ Establishment of the following: A new College of Education in Isu, Ebonyi State; a new Federal Polytechnic in Ohodo, Enugu State; and a new Federal Science & Technical College (FSTC) in Amuzu, Ebonyi State.
▪︎ Alvan Ikoku College of Education Owerri upgraded to a Federal University of Education while the Federal Medical Centre Owerri also in Imo State is to be upgraded to a Teaching Hospital to serve the Federal University of Technology Owerri Medical school.
▪︎ 60 Federal road and Bridge projects, across the five South East states were completed and it was financed through SUKUK Bond and other deliberately designed funding mechanisms, including:
✔️ Sections 1 to 4 of the Enugu - Port Harcourt Expressway.
✔️ Construction of Ihiala - Orlu Road in Isseke Town - Amafuo - Ulli with Spur (Ihiala - Orlu - Umuduru Section) in Anambra State.
✔️ Rehabilitation of Oba - Nnewi - Okigwe Road Route Section II: Anambra/Imo States Border - Ibinta - Okigwe Road.
✔️ Construction of Oseakwa Bridge in Anambra State.
✔️ Rehabilitation of Old Enugu - Port harcourt Road (Agbogugu - Abia Border Spur to Mmaku).
✔️ Rehabilitation of Nsukka - Obollo - Ikem - Ehamufu - Nkalagu Road in Enugu State.
✔️ Rehabilitation of Owerri - Umuahia Road Sections I, II & III spanning Imo & Abia States.
✔️ Rehabilitation of Oba - Nnewi - Okigwe Road Section II: Anambra/Imo States Border - Ibinta - Okigwe Road.
✔️ Rehabilitation of Bende - Arochukwu - Ohafia Road Section I in Abia State.
✔️ Rehabilitation of Abakaliki - Afikpo Road Sections I and II in Ebonyi State.
✔️ Plus Others Road Projects.
▪︎ As at 2021, a little over N60 Billion out of the N362.5 Billion Naira raised in Sovereign Sukuk Bonds since 2017 which has been shared equally across the 6 geopolitical zones had been allocated to the South East.
▪︎ MTN Nigeria reconstruct the Enugu - Onitsha Expressway, under President Buhari’s Executive Order 7 (the Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme), signed in 2019.
▪︎ The committed implementation of the Automotive Policy of the Federal Government under President Buhari has helped support the revival of the old Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company Limited (ANAMMCO Limited) factory in Enugu State. Since 2016 the revived factory has assembled more than 4,000 trucks, valued at tens of billions of Naira.
▪︎ POWER/ELECTRICITY
▪︎ Completion of the following
✔️ A new 120MVA 132/33kV Substation in Awka, Anambra State that will deliver an additional 70MW of electricity capacity.
✔️ Installation and Commissioning of 2Nos 132kV circuit breaker at Abakaliki Transmission Substation (T/S).
✔️ Installation of 33Kv Nnewi Industrial CB at Onitsha T/S, Anambra State.
✔️ Construction of a new 33kV IGI Feeder at Aba 132KV T/S, Abia state.
✔️ Energising of the 1X40MVA Substation at Nsukka, Enugu state.
✔️ Installation of a 60MVA Transformer at GCM, Onitsha, Anambra State, another 60MVA Transformer in Aba, Abia State; and 2X60MVA Transformers in New Haven, Enugu in Enugu State.
✔️ Completion of installation and commissioning into service of a brand new 300MVA 330/132/33kV power transformer in the Alaoji Transmission Substation, increasing the station’s installed capacity from 450MVA to 750MVA; making it the biggest substation in Southern Nigeria which has boosted supply to Enugu Distribution Company (EDC); benefiting Abia North (Ohafia, Arochukwu, Item, Abriba), Imo State (Okigwe, Arondi-izuogu), and parts of Ebonyi and Rivers State.
✔️ Construction of 2x60MVA Substation in Amasiri and a 150MVA 330/132kV Substation in Abakaliki, both in Ebonyi State.
✔️ Construction of a 2x60MVA transmission substation in Ogbunike/Ogidi communities of Anambra State.
✔️ Completion in 2016 (after ten years of stalled construction) of a 330kV Switching Station (and associated Double Circuit lines) in Essien Udim/Ikot Ekpene local government area (LGA) of Awka Ibom State, to serve the South East and North Central Nigeria. The Switching Station wheels power from 4 power plants into the National gridat, at Ugwuaji, in Enugu State and onwards to other parts of the country.
✔️ Plus Others
▪︎ Payment, in 2017, of Pension arrears to police officers who were granted Presidential pardon in 2000 after serving in the former Biafran Police during the Nigerian Civil War. These officers, and their next of kin, waited for their pensions for 17 years since the Presidential pardon. No other administration deemed it fit to clear the backlog.
▪︎ Completion and Commissioning in 2018 of the Zik Mausoleum in Awka, Anambra State, 22 years after construction started.
▪︎ Partnership between the Nigerian Army and Innoson Motors, for the local production, modification and repair of armored fighting vehicles and other military hardware.
▪︎ Ongoing deployment of the Federal Government’s Electric Vehicle Pilot Project, spearheaded by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Enugu State.
▪︎ Under the Buhari Administration’s National MSME programme, the completion of an MSMEs Shared Facility at the Ogbunike Leather Trading Cluster, in Anambra State.
▪︎ Completion of Adada Dam in Enugu State and Amauzari Earth Dam, Imo State; and Completion of the Inyishi Regional Water Supply Project in Imo State; Ofeme Water Supply Project in Abia State; and Uburu Water Supply Scheme in Ebonyi State.
▪︎ Development of Nigeria’s Eastern Ports, to decongest Lagos and to better serve the population in the South East and South South of the country. The Calabar, Rivers, and Onne Ports have witnessed significant infrastructure upgrades and fiscal incentives to promote their attractiveness. An LPG tanker berthed in the Eastern Ports (Rivers Port) for the first time ever in October 2019. That year Onne Port also received its first container ship in twelve years, while Calabar Port received its first container vessels in eleven years.
▪︎ Successful Concession of Onitsha Inland River Port for a 30 year period to Universal Elysium Consortium Ltd in July 2022 after decades of dilly-dallying by successive administrations.
▪︎ Plus Others.
