Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde has expressed his administration’s commitment to developing road infrastructure in the state.
The governor stated this when he played host to the Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi and his entourage.
He pointed out that once the state considers any federal road central to its economy, it would not be deterred by whether or not the federal government is ready to refund immediately.
He said his government had demonstrated that resolve with the reconstruction of the 34 kilometres Oyo-Iseyin Road, which according to him, would be commissioned by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
Makinde, who also commended the Federal director of Highways in the state for cooperating with his administration, said: “I have been here for four years. For us, if a road is important to our economy, we just go ahead and do it.
“An example is the Oyo-Iseyin Road. It is a federal road, and it took us two years to get the approval. But the road is passing through our agribusiness hub. I visited the Minister of Works several times then.
“We had gone through the process of awarding the contract and we were going to spend up to N9bn and we had set aside the money.
“So, they gave us the approval to fix it but they said we should follow the federal standard. We gave it to the contractor and added an extra N1bn to the project and I am happy to tell you that the 34.85km project is going to be commissioned on September 15th.
“Former President Obasanjo is coming to commission the project. It will demonstrate to the country that for whatever is important to the people, one should not pass the buck. We are not asking for a refund straight away, but the records are there.’’
Earlier, the Minister of Works, Umahi said he was in the South-West to inspect federal government infrastructure projects.
has lauded Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, for transforming the state since he took the reins of government.
Umahi, David described Makinde as great evidence in infrastructure development, noting that the governor is one of the few governors putting the welfare of his people first.
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