Buhari cancels visit to Cross River for groundbreaking of 260km highway

According to a NAN report, the proposed visit of President
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. “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.