Uyo — A new oil refinery is to be established in Eket local government area of Akwa Ibom state.

Chairman, House Committee on Media and Publicity Hon. Eseme Eyiboh, who disclosed this at a forum of members of the Eket Federal Constituency said the Federal Government had already approved funds for the project. Though he did not disclose the actual amount of money to be expended on the project, Eyiboh said construction work on the project will soon commence.

According to him the decision of the Federal Government to build a refinery in the state was informed by the need to give the state a sense of belonging as the largest contributor to national wealth.

He faulted claims by Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited on projects executed in the constituency, saying there was need for the oil major to parley the people in order to affect them positively.

Eyiboh stressed the need for Mobil to live up to its social responsibility by putting physical development on ground in the area.

He also used the forum to brief his constituency on his representation at the National Assembly pledging to ensure that Eket Federal Constituency takes its rightful place by ensuring that what is due the area is given to it.

The Forum specifically wanted the reactivation of the moribund Qua steel Industry, the Qua River Hotel, the Akwa Palms in Esit Eket, the Ibeno Jetty, the rice farm at Onna, among others, in order to boost the economic growth of the area and the state.

The forum also called on the Niger Delta Development Commission and Mobil Producing Nigeria to ensure that they embark upon projects that truly touch the lives of the host communities even as they have vowed to identify and document all abandoned projects in the federal constituency with a view to notifying the appropriate authorities.