According to Punch, the 41.4 kilometer road was awarded to the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) at the cost of N34, 047, 096, 919.17 with a completion period of 30 months.

President Jonathan who was represented at the flagging off of the road by the Minister for Works, Chief Mike Onolememen, said the gesture was a demonstration of his avowed commitment to the development of road infrastructure in the country in line with the transformation agenda of his administration.

He noted that the Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriage way is an important North-South arterial highway route connecting so many important cities in the country.

Jonathan said the highway constructed over 70 years ago was begging for total rehabilitation following enormous pressure on it as a result of increasing traffic flow, hence, the resolve of his administration to give it a face-lift.

He noted with delight the progress of work on section one of the expressway, stretching from Lokpanta to Aba awarded in 2013, hinting that section three of the road spanning from Enugu to Lopkanta had already been awarded and would be flagged-off next week.

Onolememen said with the award of contract for the second and third sections of the road, “the entire stretch of the Enugu-Port Harcourt highway is now under total rehabilitation.”

This he added was in response to “the cries and yearnings of the good people of the South-South and South East zones and indeed all Nigerians.”

It will be recalled that President Jonathan last year said, his administration has created lots of job opportunities and constructed many Projects in the South East.