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The Federal government has revealed that two new contractors had been engaged to work on the reconstruction of the deplorable Ado-Akure expressway.
The road which has been in bad shape in the last few years has given commuters and residents of Ondo and Ekiti states a tough time accessing the states with several efforts to put the road in good condition all ended in failure.
Also, the administration of former Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi and the Ondo state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu jointly approached the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) to seek financial support for the road but was not successful.
However, the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola while speaking during an interview on TVC news on Sunday and monitored by Tribune Online apologised to the people of the states for the hardship being experienced on the road in the last few years.
The minister explained that the federal government has engaged two new contractors after the initial contractor failed to secure the needed fund to prosecute the road project, adding that arrangements for alternative funds have been made in addition to the funding the government is getting from the SUKUK for the road.
For effective and efficient delivery of the road in record time, Fashola disclosed that each of the two contractors would work from the Ondo and Ekiti axis of the road.
The minister who received an audience in his office in Abuja last week, the Ekiti state governor, Biodun Oyebanji over the state of the road and other federal roads in the state said, “Essentially, the two states (Ondo and Ekiti) tried to raise money from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) for the construction of the Ado-Akure road but the bank wrote that they prefer to deal with the federal government. In any event, we couldn’t conclude the transaction because they raise a lot of issues which we responded to alongside the former governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi.
“But, what I can say now is that the contract has been determined because we got SUKUK funding which the initial contractor could not access and we are using new contractors; we have also made alternative arrangements for additional funding.
“So, in the next few weeks, all fingers cross hopefully, we will put that under solution and work will begin, this time we planned to use two contractors so that one can attack it from the Ekiti end, and the other from the Ondo end of the road. Our team is working on that vigorously.
“I want to appeal to commuters who use the road and of course, the indigenes of Ondo and Ekiti states to bear with us, we meant well and we wanted to give them a bigger and better road and they take time but we will get there.”
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