adminThe Ogun state government has said it is still waiting for the final approval from the Federal Government on the Abeokuta-Ota-Lagos road.
Recall that in October of last year, following the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting at the Aso Villa, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, announced during a briefing that the Federal Government had finally granted the Ogun State Government permission to reconstruct the crucial road, following multiple attempts to that end by the Dapo Abiodun led administration.
The reconstruction was to be carried out under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), with the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and the Federal Ministry of Finance to be involved in the process.
Special Advisor on Media to governor Abiodun, Kayode Akinmade on Monday while speaking on the development stressed that, while the concessioning has presidential clearance there is no EXTRACT from the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approving the concessioning.
Akinmade explained that until an Extract from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), transferring the road to the Ogun State Government is issued the concessioning process is incomplete.
He disclosed that without the FEC Extract negotiation with investors to raise money for the project will also be impossible.
Meanwhile commissioner for Works, Engr. Ade Akinsanya, stated that the state administration had been providing palliatives to make the roughly 70km road manageable for motorists.
“Ogun State has been rehabilitating the road since 2019. We keep doing palliative works because the governor is always concerned about the suffering being experienced by the people. He remains concerned about the deplorable state of the road until he got what he wanted from the federal government.
“With the transfer done now, we are happy and ready to immediately take over the project and turn around the fortunes of the road. It’s what we’ve been looking for, praying for since we came on board. We will take over immediately, subject to paperwork between us and the federal ministry,” he had said.
