From Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Osun State Government has explained that it took over the reconstruction of the Osogbo-Okinni-Ilobu road, which is a Federal road, to alleviate the hardship motorists and other road users face daily while plying the road.
The government said the facility had been while deplorable condition for so long and it could not afford to allow its citizens to continue to suffer on the road, adding that it followed due process in taking over the project.
One of the opposition parties in Osun, the Accord Party had in a statement published accused the State Government of taking over a road project that had already been awarded by the Federal Government.
Reacting to the statement by the Accord Party, Mr Ismail Omipidan who is the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Adegboyega Oyetola, described the party’s claims as “unfortunate, lame and illogical.”
He said while the contract for the rehabilitation of the road had been truly awarded by the federal government on two different occasions since 2012, no concrete work had been done on the project, a development he said forced the State government to take over the project.
“The contract for rehabilitating the road was first awarded by the federal government 10 years ago, but since then, no significant work has been done on the project that has caused so much hardship for our people who use the road.
“It was for this reason that the Governor Adegboyega Oyetola-led administration decided to take over the project to address the needless sufferings and loss of man-hours on the facility,” Omipidan explained.