Governor Peter Mbah says President Bola Tinubu loves the Igbo, lauding him for establishing the South-East Development Commission (SEDC) and describing the commission as the institutional vehicle needed to realise the Southeast’s longstanding industrialisation aspirations.

“Tinubu loves the Igbo people. The SEDC is a commission whose time has come. It was an idea conceived many decades ago, but it took President Tinubu to establish this long-awaited dream of industrialisation of the Southeast,” Mr Mbah said.

The Enugu governor stated this during the $100 million South-East gas pipeline project’s investment signing ceremony on Tuesday, describing it as a strategic investment that would strengthen manufacturing and unlock economic opportunities across the five states.

He described the signing of the investment agreement as the commencement of the investment process, adding that the initiative would help realise the region’s aspiration for a common market and coordinated industrial development.

Mr Mbah, who said he was excited that the project was advancing less than 13 months after he publicly advocated the idea, praised the commission for adopting an innovative financing model that brings governments and private investors together.

Imo’s Deputy Governor Chinyere Ekomaru, who represented Governor Hope Uzodimma, commended Mr Tinubu and the SEDC for initiating the project, noting that Imo’s substantial natural gas resources placed the state in a strategic position to benefit.

Mr Uzodimma said the project was coming at an opportune time, particularly as companies were seeking to become offtakers of gas from the Assa North–Ohaji South development. He urged residents to consider the Federal Government’s infrastructure investments in the Southeast in making their political choices ahead of the 2027 elections.

Anambra’s Deputy Governor Onyekachukwu Ibezim, representing Governor Charles Soludo, commended the commission but stressed that its success would ultimately be determined by its impact on the people.

Mr Soludo noted that states across the region had gas resources that could support industrial growth if properly developed, calling on communities along the pipeline route to embrace the project and cooperate with its promoters.

The 400km pipeline is designed to connect gas resources to industrial and commercial centres across Enugu, Anambra, Imo, Abia and Ebonyi.

Ebonyi’s Deputy Governor Patricia Obila, representing Governor Francis Nwifuru, described energy as fundamental to industrial growth, lamenting that inadequate power supply had contributed to the decline of several enterprises in the region.

Mr Nwifuru said the Ebonyi government was ready to support the project, promising the cooperation needed to facilitate implementation and help moribund companies resume operations.

(NAN)