The Nigerian Government, on Sunday, frowned at claims by Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki and officials of the State Government that they were behind the reconstruction of failed portions of Ekpoma Federal Road axis.
In a telephone conversation with newsmen on Sunday, the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Works, Ben Goong, said it was humorous for anyone to lay any claims to the ongoing intervention on the failed portion.
“This is laughable. What’s the difference between reconstruction and intervention? The Federal Government is the one working on that failed portion of Ekpoma road,” Mr. Goong, speaking on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Works, revealed.
In March, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Senator Monday Okpebholo and his Edo North counterpart, Adams Oshiomhole, appealed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to approve intervention funds for the reconstruction of failed portions of Okpella-Benin road.
Subsequently, Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, in the same month of March, instructed contractors to return to sites. They were given a completion date of end of September to fix Okpella, Ewu, and Ekpoma failed portions of the road.
The Tinubu administration also mobilised the contractors with over 30 percent of the total contract sum.
During the meeting between Umahi, Okpebholo and Oshiomole, Edo lawmakers commended the Tinubu administration for responding swiftly to the needs of the people.
According to them, Edo State residents had been lamenting over the deplorable state of the road for the past two to three administrations. They said some of the contractors were not serious about the projects while some abandoned them.
“We appealed to the previous governments, we had a lot of promises but they were not kept. So we cried to the president. We are happy that through the intervention of the minister, the president has given us a listening ear.
“I was shocked that within 72 hours the minister swung to action, the problem that ministers before him could not solve got a swift answer,” Oshiomole had noted.
On his part, Senator Okpebholo said President Tinubu succeeded in rekindling hope in the people of Edo State, through the road project.
“We didn’t know how we were going to campaign because of bad roads; I commend the minister for the swift action.
“If this is how Nigeria works, everybody will want to come back home. Nobody will want to leave the country.
“I am happy that this is done. It is an excellent move for Edo people. With this, we will win our election with a clean slate,’’ he said.
Obaseki and other agents of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), since the contractors returned to sites, have been laying claims to the ongoing intervention on the failed portions of the road.
This is despite the fact that Obaseki had erected gigantic billboards on major failed portions of Federal roads in Edo State, including the contentious Ekpoma axis, informing residents that the reconstruction of the failed portions of the roads was not within the purview of the State Government.
