Residents of Sagamu have chided the Ogun State government for allegedly stopping an ongoing Federal Government road project approved under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The Paddy-Arikawe Oye Igbimo Road reconstruction, awarded by the Presidency to Minim and Tonye Nigeria Limited and facilitated by Senator Gbenga Daniel, was abruptly halted by the Ogun State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure.
But in a letter signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Yusuf L.O., the contractor was directed to suspend operations immediately on the grounds that “necessary permit/clearance was not obtained from the state government before commencement.”
The letter further said that the Presidency’s action “negates the normal due process that ought to be followed before commencing work on a state government road.”
However, the decision has sparked outrage in Sagamu, where residents accused the state government of “pettiness and insensitivity.”
But speaking on the development, a media aide to the former governor, Steve Oluyide, said that in recent times, five of Daniel’s federal government interventions had been stopped by the state based on flimsy excuses.
Reacting, Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor on Media and Strategy, Kayode Akinmade, said that the essence is for those handling the roads to submit their documents and adequately brief the state government before embarking on any project in the state.
Akinmade said that the aim is for the government to know the kilometres of the road the intervention is going to take and for it to have prior knowledge of such a project.