Atiku announces plans for rail expansion, road construction, enlargement of Calabar port in Cross River

The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) nominee for president, Atiku Abubakar, has vowed to revive the Calabar port and promote economic expansion in Nigeria’s South-South.

Atiku presented his plans for the future of the region during a campaign event on Monday in Cross River State at the UJ Esuene Stadium in Calabar. He pledged to build rail lines from Lagos to Port Harcourt via Calabar and to connect the state with the rest of the nation through improved road networks.

With these initiatives, Atiku wants to make Calabar a commercial hub and give the people of Cross River State prosperity.
“If you open up the Calabar port, it will generate a ton of business and provide the people of Cross River State with significant opportunities. Another thing you should know is that once the Calabar port is developed and operational, it will attract businesses and factories, which will benefit the citizens of Cross River State. This is just one example; there will be many more agricultural potentials. So just developing Calabar port alone will provide plenty of opportunities for the people of Cross River, and if you support the PDP for president and governor, we’ll work with your legislators and governors to put this policy, which is supported by research, into action.

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The issue of infrastructure development, according to Atiku, “involves first and foremost the road networks linking you with neighboring states and second and foremost the proposed rail line from Lagos through Calabar to Port Harcourt.”

In a separate speech, Udom Emmanuel, the governor of Akwa-Ibom state and chairman of the PDP Campaign Council, gave the people of Cross River assurances about what Atiku would do if elected.

He declared, “Our color is PDP, our color is capacity, our color is human development, and our color is bringing prosperity, development, and then the eradication of poverty. I want to reassure you that Atiku Abubakar will have a very well-developed road network in terms of infrastructure.
Ben Ayade, the governor of Cross River state, and others who left the PDP are coming back, according to Senator Iyorcha Ayu, the party’s national chairman, who also spoke at the rally.

“You elected some of our best sons and daughters to the PDP; regrettably, some of them let you down. However, they will return home because the residents of Cross River State will not accompany them wherever they go.
“I want to beg of you that on the 25th of this month, vote for one person who will unify this country, who will wipe your tears, who will make sure that the economy of Nigeria comes back to be the first and best economy in the continent.
“The exchange rate for the Naira was N180 to the dollar when we left office in 2015. N800 is the current exchange rate between the naira and the dollar. You become poor as a result of that. We left behind a $9.6 billion foreign debt when we left. The APC has increased that debt to $97 billion in just seven years.

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Because we spend all of the money we make on debt servicing, he continued, “In other words, each and every one of you standing here is a debtor, and it is having an impact on the economy of this country.”