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President
Muhammadu Buhari
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The proposed visit of
President Muhammadu Buhari to Cross River State for the groundbreaking ceremony
for the construction of a 260km superhighway has been cancelled. A statement by Christian
Ita, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River, on
Thursday, confirmed the cancellation.
It
stated that the decision to postpone the ceremony was communicated to the
governor in a letter signed by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari.
“The
presidency attributed the shift to a letter written to the president by the
Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment, Nana Fatima Mede.
PREMIUM TIMES report continues:
“She
claimed that the proposed highway, if allowed to go on, would cut through the
Cross River National Park.
“The
letter claimed that the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) on the proposed
road was yet to be carried out,” the statement said.
But
Mr. Ita stated that the proposed road would not traverse the Cross River
National Park, as the superhighway would be several kilometres away from the
national park.
“Based
on the input of the Cross River National Park, the road has since been
re-routed with the alignment now several kilometers away from the park.
“As
a governor who is passionate about the preservation of the state’s biodiversity
with his establishment of the Green Police, he would not embark on a project
that would undermine the environment,” Mr. Ita stated.
He
said the EIA report on the road was being handled by environmental consultants,
PGM (Nig) Limited recommended to the state by the Federal Ministry of
Environment.
Mr.
Ita said the governor would work closely with the presidency to clear areas of
doubt, adding that a new date for the ceremony would be announced later.
(NAN)
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