N369b Second Niger Bridge is Buhari’s biggest capital project, says Kalu

The N369 billion Second Niger Bridge in the Southeast is President Muhammadu Buhari’s biggest capital project, Senate Chief Whip Orji Uzor Kalu has said.

He spoke on Thursday in his Camp Neya country home in Igbere, Abia State.

It was during a meeting he convened for the executive committee members of his political structures, the OUK Movement, and Reality Organisation from the 17 local government areas and 295 wards.

The senator described the N369 billion Second Niger Bridge as the Federal Government’s single biggest capital project to be cited in any geo-political zone in the country.

He, therefore, urged the people of the Southeast to have faith in the president and support his administration.

“The president still has 17 months in office and has a role to play in 2023. He may surprise the Southeast zone,” Kalu said.

Kalu, who was governor between 1999 and 2007, described Buhari as a “highly disciplined leader”.

He said his administration’s commitment to the 100 per cent budget implementation in 2020 and 2021 has been unprecedented since 1999.

The Senator said: “No past president or governor in the country has been able to achieve full implementation of the budget since the present democratic dispensation.”

The former governor urged members of the committees to see themselves as fishers of men, saying they should go round the state to win more members.

He also admonished them to arm themselves with voter cards, in order to use their votes to determine who would become the next governor of Abia.

Kalu said: “I urge you to be serious and committed to the 2023 governorship project. It is our duty to install the next governor that would be able to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.”

The senator said he had provided effective representation to his Abia North Constituency, adding that he had also attracted some road projects to Aba, the commercial hub of Abia.

“I have brought cross-constituency projects, including roads in Ariaria, Industrial and Shoemaker Markets, all in Aba, Isialangwa North and South,” he said.

In separate speeches, Messrs Ndukwe Orji and Mr. Peter Ndukwe, Chairmen of OUK Movement and Reality Organisation, respectively, pledged their continued loyalty to Kalu.

They also promised to recruit more members, adding that they are determined to use their votes to elect a grassroot-oriented leadership in 2023.

The President of Reality Organisation Worlwide and Kalu’s mother, Eunice, urged the two groups to remain committed and steadfast to the 2023 project.