Fashola flags off N90bn Akure/Ado-Ekiti road reconstruction, says we’ll keep awarding contracts till May 28

Fashola flags off N90bn Akure/Ado-Ekiti road reconstruction, says we’ll keep awarding contracts till May 28

Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has said that the Muhammadu Buhari administration will not stop working including awarding contracts until midnight of May 28.

The administration will on May 29 hand over power to a new government headed by Bola Tinubu.
Fashola said this on Thursday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, while flagging off the N90bn dualisation of the 49km Akure/Ado-Ekiti highway.

He was responding to critics, saying, “People are asking why we are still awarding contracts when we have just a few days to go. Should we stop this road now and wait for the next government?
”It is a juvenile conversation. They forgot, among other things, that the term of this administration ends at midnight on May 28.
“This road really represents the paradox of governance, about roads, and about public debts.”

Why the road project was delayed

The minister also spoke on the delay in commencing the project.
He said, “All kinds of stories have been told about me, but none of them bothers me. They just dedicate me to my job and tell me to do it as best I can.

“All lies have been published that Fashola does not like Ekiti and Ondo states. That is absolute nonsense.
“There were suggestions that we should asphalt and rehabilitate the road, and I said no, that we will dualize the road and we are going to reconstruct.
“Before we could do that, we had to first do the design, which took some time. But many were ignorant about this. It is not as easy as it looks.”
The minister explained that infrastructural development could only be actualised through borrowing or taxation, said that the project costing N90bn would be taken care of by the NNPCL through the tax credit policy of the federal government.
According to him, the project, awarded to Samchase Nigeria Ltd. and Kopeck Construction Company, is slated for completion within the next 24 months.

Speaking at the ceremony, the Minister of State for Transport, Ademola Adegoroye, praised Fashola for his efforts towards ensuring that the construction of the  road commenced.