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The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi and chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Mr. Barinada Mpigi, have tasked contractors handling some ongoing roads in Ekiti State, including the Ado Ekiti-Afe Babalola University road, to deliver within set timelines.
The duo stated this during a recent inspection of the roads.
The Special Adviser to the Minister, Mr. Orji Uchenna, in a statement, said the visiting team paid a courtesy call to the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Abiodun Abayomi at the Government House, Ado- Ekiti, and also to the founder, Afe Babalola University, Mr. Afe Babalola, at the University Campus, Ado- Ekiti.
Speaking during the visit, the minister, who condemned the slow pace of work by the contractor handling the Akure-Itagbolu-Iju- Ekiti Border-Ikere Ado Ekiti road, summoned the contractor to a meeting to discuss the way forward in ensuring the timely delivery of the project.
He also promised to take up further conversations on the Ado Ekiti- Afe Babalola University road.
He said: “I didn’t know that this road is a major corridor that evacuates a lot of commercial produce from Benin, Lokoja, all the way to the southern and northern parts of the country. The governor is very desirous that this road be done. So, we have looked at the roads and we are coming back. My team will be there on Saturday and I will be back in the next seven days. So we want to give it all the attention. That is what the people want.”
In their separate remarks, Governor Abayomi and Afe Babalola thanked President Bola Tinubu for his commitment to road infrastructure development, while the minister commended the governor for joining the visit.
“That shows the commitment of the Tinubu administration to the cause of development at the sub nationals. I’m extremely grateful and I look forward to a further collaboration between the state government and federal government. Whatever we have to do to ensure that we pay and get value, definitely we will do that. I’m just full of appreciation for the minister and the governor. It takes a man of courage, a man of purpose, a man of vision to come to Ekiti on a day like this when everybody is resting at home,” Babalola said.
Afe Babalola in his statement said, “Minister, we appreciate you, we have pleaded a number of times about the dualization of the road or single road. As a matter of fact, I accepted the proposition to do the road from this end to the gate. Let me allow people to pay at the toll gate. If the government has no funds, I’m ready to do it myself, provided that we will arrange that people will pay the toll, it is only a fool that will not appreciate that Nigeria is financially in trouble. I know the amount we owe in dollars. Those who said they gave us money, I don’t know what the money was spent on.” The Minister with the Senate Committee Chairman on Works later moved to Enugu State, the same day, to inspect some ongoing Federal projects.
