Multiple videos have circulated on social media alongside the claim that a road which Charles Soludo, the governor of Anambra state recently commissioned, has been washed away after heavy rain.
Lindaikejiblog posted the videos on Instagram with the caption, “Anambra residents call out state governor, Charles Soludo, after heavy downpour washed off road commissioned weeks ago.” The post has garnered over 9,000 likes as of the time it was retrieved from Instagram.
In one of the videos, an unidentified man was heard saying, “This is the road, Iweka road. The new road that Soludo built. The road is flooded now. The road is yet to be completed but look at flood everywhere. Is this the kind of road that Soludo is giving to Anambrians?”
An X user, Jude Nnamdi, also posted the videos with the caption, “This is the same Ochanja-Iweka road they were celebrating its newly constructed needless roundabout some weeks ago.”
Claim: Videos show a newly commissioned road washed away by flood in Anambra state
Verification
The CDD War Room found that the state government has described the claims as misrepresentations of fact according to a statement released by the press secretary to the governor, Christian Aburime, on Tuesday, March 26, 2024.
Aburimee explained that the Ochanja-Iweka road, affected by the heavy rainfall on Monday, March 25, was still under construction and was yet to be inaugurated by the governor of the state. The press secretary described the viral claim as an attempt to distort reality and spread misinformation.
Parts of the statement read, “The Ochanja-Iweka road remains an active construction site, with work ongoing even during the heavy downpour yesterday. The brief vulnerability of the newly paved section is attributed to insufficient curing time before the heavy rain due to the construction schedule.
“Thus the trending video deliberately includes misleading footage of a different, already existing road that is not under construction. The Ochanja-Iweka road project is neither finished nor commissioned by Governor Soludo. He has only commissioned the Port Harcourt road and Niger Street road in Onitsha South LGA, both of which are demonstrably well-built and functional.”
Verdict: MISLEADING
The CDD War Room confirms that the Ochanja-Iweka road, where some sections were reportedly washed away due to heavy downpours, was yet to be commissioned by the Anambra state government, according to the press secretary to the governor.