Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, has expressed frustrations over the reconstruction of the Lagos-Sango-Abeokuta Expressway, saying that bureaucratic bottleneck stalled the project which has continued to bring untold hardship on road users.
He spoke on Wednesday during an inspection of the reconstruction of the 20km Agbara-Lusada-Atan Dual Carriage Way in the Ado-Odo-Ota Local Government Area of the state where he assured that the road currently under construction would be completed in September.
Abiodun emphasised the importance of the roads not only to the economic well-being of the state but that to the nation.
While recalling the efforts by Ogun and Lagos state governments to take over and reconstruct the Lagos-Sango-Abeokuta Expressway, the governor said he and his Lagos counterpart were frustrated by delays from the Federal Government, right from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
According to the governor, with President Bola Tinubu in power, the Federal Government was approached once again for the transfer of the road to the state, a request that was eventually granted.
He, however, said the state still faces stiff opposition from some federal officials on the transfer, which forced the state government to formally award the contract in May, with or without the necessary transfer papers.
Abiodun said, “The Lagos-Sango- Abeokuta road is a Federal Government road and has been in a very bad shape for long. Because of the suffering our people pass through on the road, I and my counterpart in Lagos jointly wrote a letter, using a single letterhead to the Federal Executive Council, seeking the transfer of that road for us to reconstruct.
“After waiting for a month without reply, we wrote a reminder. That road was not handed over to us until the present federal government came on board. The contract for the road has since been awarded since May this year.”
