By IJENDU IHEAKA

Gov. Alex Otti of Abia, on Tuesday assured Abia residents that the Federal Government will rehabilitate Aba – Port Harcourt stretch of the Enugu – Port Harcourt Expressway before Christmas.

Otti made the promise on Tuesday during an inspection tour of the road which had failed badly forcing travelers to resort to using motorcycles to travel to Port Harcourt from Aba.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the failed portion of the road had made it almost impossible for vehicles to move on it while creating a brisk business for motorcyclists.

The motorcyclists now navigate bush paths and parts of the Expressway to access the boundary town between Abia and Rivers where they dispatch passengers and return to Aba.

The governor said that the federal government had sent him a team with whom he inspected the highway and expressed happiness that the trouble of Abia people would soon be over.

“I went to inspect the Aba – Port Harcourt Expressway from here all the way to the border town of Obigbo.

“The promise the federal government made to me was that this road must be rehabilitated and made ready for Christmas.

“As a result, anyone wishing to go to Port Harcourt when that is done, will no longer travel through bush paths which leads to Etche in Imo state.

“From Christmas, you will be able to access Port Harcourt straight from Aba without using bush paths,” the governor said.

He urged the people of the state to work hard to be better at what they did stressing that Abia had become good.

Some residents of Aba who have suffered the hardship levied them by the excessive failure of the road for more than five years, expressed gratitude to the federal government for remembering them.

They however, urged the government to ensure it fulfilled its promise of rehabilitating the road and not to give them assurances that would amount to nothing. (NAN)