Ojudu Questions FG Over Akure–Ado Ekiti Road Downgrade
Former presidential aide, Babafemi Ojudu, has questioned the Federal Government over the reported conversion of the Akure–Ado Ekiti dual carriageway project into a single carriageway rehabilitation project.
Ojudu, a former National Assembly member, expressed disappointment that a project originally awarded for the reconstruction and dualisation of the 50-kilometre road was eventually delivered as a rehabilitated single carriageway.
In a statement posted on his Facebook page on Tuesday, Ojudu recalled that the original contract, reportedly valued at about N30bn, was awarded to Dantata & Sawoe in November 2019 before it was later cancelled.
He said the Federal Executive Council subsequently approved the re-award of the project on March 29, 2023, as a 50-kilometre dualisation project at an estimated cost of N95.98bn.
According to him, the Akure–Ondo State boundary section was awarded to Samchase Nigeria Limited and Horizon Construction Company Limited for N46.68bn, with a 24-month completion period, while the section from the Ekiti boundary towards Ado Ekiti was awarded to Kopek Construction Limited for N49.29bn, with a 30-month completion period.
Ojudu noted that the project was formally flagged off in May 2023, adding that residents had expected the construction of a second carriageway alongside bridges and other infrastructure designed to accommodate the dual carriageway.
He, however, expressed concern that only one carriageway had ultimately been rehabilitated, while construction activities on the proposed second carriageway appeared to have stopped.
“A refurbished single carriageway cannot quietly be substituted for a dual carriageway without an explanation,” Ojudu said, demanding clarification from the Minister of Works, David Umahi.
He urged the Federal Government to explain what was originally awarded, the amount paid, what had been delivered and the fate of the remaining components of the project.
According to him, the road is critical to the economic and social activities of Ondo and Ekiti states and should not be allowed to become another abandoned or altered government project.
Ojudu said the people of the two states deserved clear answers, particularly as contractors had initially mobilised to site, cleared the route for the second carriageway and commenced work on bridges and other structures.
Efforts by journalists to obtain a response from the Federal Ministry of Works were unsuccessful, as the ministry’s Director of Information and Public Relations, Mohammed Ahmed, and the Minister’s Senior Special Assistant on Media, Francis Nwaze, did not respond to enquiries.