The visit follows a motion moved by the Senate Minority Leader, Abba Moro, calling for urgent reconstruction of the road.
Benue State (a state in the North-Central region)
The Senate committees on the Federal Road Maintenance Agency and that of National Security and Intelligence have directed the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to make a requisition for emergency funding from the One Hundred Billion Naira road intervention funds approved by President Bola Tinubu to reconstruct the twenty-eight-kilometre Ogobia to Onyangede portion of the Makurdi through Naka to Ankpa federal road linking Benue to Kogi State.
The Senate Committee Chairman on FERMA, Sahabi Ya’u, while addressing host communities in the Onyangede district of the Otukpo local government area, made the call to FERMA.
Ya’u noted that the Federal Government will do all it can to secure approval for the one hundred billion naira road intervention funds to fix the deplorable road, which has cut off the socio-economic lives of the people.
The visit follows a motion moved by the Senate Minority leader and lawmaker representing Benue South, Abba Moro, calling for urgent reconstruction of the road, which ordinarily is only forty minutes to Otukpo town, but now takes over three hours, while kidnapping and banditry on the portion of the road have increased due to the state of the road
Senator Sahabi, while addressing the people in Onyangede, said, “We have seen the state of the road, and whatever we can do to ensure your people are happy, we will do.”
He said, “Ours is a national duty to ensure we advise that this road is reconstructed, and so let FERMA work on funding from the approval the president has given for one hundred billion naira for these kinds of roads to be fixed, let us see to it that we use part of that money to do this road.”
Senator Abba Moro, however, noted with concern the socio-economic and security threats the people of Ogobia in Ugboju and those in Onyangede now face as a result of the poor road condition.
“I am happy the Senate committees are here to inspect the Ogobia-Onyangede road, which is in a deplorable condition now but fixed and will address the long travel time of three hours now to as fast as forty minutes while addressing the security threats of kidnapping along the road,” Moro said.
Speaking on behalf of his people, the traditional ruler of Onyangede, His Royal Highness Ogili Adamu, appealed for the speedy reconstruction of the road to reduce travel time to Otukpo and open them up to economic opportunities.
“We thank the senate committees for approving this road because a journey of forty-five minutes from here to Otukpo now takes us three hours, but we believe that, when reconstructed, we will live better than we do presently, with our farm produce like Cassava and palm oil losing value due to access to markets, considering the nature of our road,” he said.
The road, which is riddled with potholes along the route and washed-off portions soaked in rain and muddy waters, makes the twenty-five-minute journey harder for three whole hours from the Ogobia-Ugboju roundabout.
However, the Director of East Operations at FERMA, Usman Gulloma, pledged to report back on the cost finding to address the concerns, noting that the 2026 budget made no provision specifically for the Ogobia-Onyangede road
“We have inspected the Ogobia to Onyangede portion of the road with the view to knowing its condition and determining the cost of reconstructing it, even though the road is not captured under the 2026 budget, but the Senate has a resolution that has guided this visit to see what can be done,” Gulloma said.
After a rousing welcome, the delegation returned to Otukpo, the traditional headquarters of the Idoma Kingdom, for a meeting with the Ochi’doma, where they restated the Federal Government’s commitment to fix the twenty-eight-kilometre Ogobia to Onyangede portion of the road.
