Petroleum Tanker Drivers, PTD, branch of the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the abandoned N14.58 billion contract for the rehabilitation of Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa-Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna road.

National Chairman of PTD, Salimon Akanni Oladiti, who made the call while speaking with journalists in Abuja, regretted that members had suffered untold hardship on account of the deplorable state of the highway, which had become a source of agony and death trap for motorists and other road users. The immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan approved the contract for the rehabilitation of the highway project in November 2013 to the tune of N14.58 billion.

The then Minister of Works, Mr Mike Onolememen, told journalists after the Federal Executive Council, FEC, meeting presided over by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan that the FEC approved N42 billion contracts for the rehabilitation of roads across different states of the federation.

Onolememen explained that, "council also approved contract No. 6210 for the rehabilitation of Ilorin-Jebba-Mokwa-Birnin-Gwari-Kaduna road section 1 in the sum of N14.58 billion."

Other rehabilitation projects awarded under this category include the Ilorin-Omu-Aran-Kabba road in Kwara and Kogi states was awarded for N8.2billion, the other is the Ilorin- Jebba, 93.6KM long single carriage way) in Kwara State for N14, 587,233, 292.17 with completion period of 24 months among others.

But worried that the road project had been abandoned, PTD said the sorry state of Jebba-Mokwa section of the highway was terrible and had become nightmare to thetanker drivers and therefore asking "this present government to investigate that and do justice to it."

According to Olatidi, "The challenges of our members, if not because we believe in this government, we just want to wait and see what they can do. Tanker drivers across the country are suffering. Look at Ilorin-Oloru-Jebba road, a distance of less than 60kms; it took a tanker to cross from Ilorin to Jebba 5, 6, 7days, it is a pity. And I was very wondering when I heard that that road was awarded to contractors in 2013. That is in the northern part of the country that is very critical. We have challenges between Onitsha-Owerri-Aba road, in fact, all those areas are death trap. In Calabar, before you enter Calabar Township, there is a death trap there now. Even we said if they cannot do any palliative measures, we asked our members to park because within a week, two tankers fell down and discharge all their content at that portion of road."

While congratulating the Ministers of Power, Works and Housing and that of Transportation, Babatunde Fashola and Chief Rotimi Amaechi, respectively, noted that the PTD was ready to partner and work with the two ministers, saying: "The expectation of those of us in the transport sector of Nigeria economy is very high. We know that they can do because we know when the two of them were state governors, we knew their performance and we saw their performance. And we believe now that they are in the federal level, they will perform more than what they did when they were state governors. So we congratulate them, we believe they will do it, they can do it and God will give them opportunity and knowledge and wisdom to perform beyond our expectations."