The face off between the Ogun state government and the senator representing the Ogun East Senatorial district, Gbenga Daniel is yet to abate as the state ministry of works and infrastructure has allegedly issued a “stop work” on a road infrastructure alleged to have been facilitated for reconstruction in Sagamu area of the state by the senator, according to Channels Television’s report
The senator, through his media aide, Steve Oloyede, alleged that the move was politically motivated.
But in a swift reaction the state government has described as egregious falsehood the report that it stopped an ongoing federal road project along Paddy-Arikawe-Oye-Igbimo Road to settle political scores with the facilitator of the project.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Kayode Akinmade, the Ogun State government clarified that the contractor, Minim and Tonye Nigeria Limited, was only asked to follow due process and apply for permission from the government because the road in question is a state road.
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According to the statement, having discovered a contractor working on the road, which was earlier scheduled for repairs by Governor Abiodun, the state government asked the contractor to apply for permission, stating the scope of work expected to be done, which would enable the state government to take the road off its schedule.
The state government challenged the “writers of the fake news” to publish anything legally wrong with the letter signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works, Yusuf L.O., directing the contractor to suspend operations because the necessary permit/clearance was not obtained from the State Government before commencement.
According to the statement, “no one can carry out any repair work on a road without obtaining the necessary permission, which is why a state government intent on repairing any federal road must first obtain the Federal Government’s permission.”
“Nigerians will recall that for a long time, the Ogun State Government could not carry out any repair works on federal roads like the Abeokuta-Sango Ota road because the then Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, refused to give the state permission. In their utter ignorance, the authors of the fake news claimed that the Federal Government had approved the construction of a road belonging to Ogun State.
“If not for outright mischief carried out on behalf of their drowning principal, how can anyone equate asking a contractor to obtain necessary approval before working on a state road to stopping the project because of alleged political hostility? How do you work on a state road, indeed any road, without obtaining the necessary approval?”
The statement asked Nigerians to note that in a letter dated February 1, 2025, a former federal lawmaker, Hon. Adewunmi Onanuga, sought permission to start construction work on four rural roads, namely Sokanmade Road, Ewuga; Oko and Ada Road, Simawa; Ita Maro to Ilara Road; and Alhaja Ogunsanya Street, Irolu, among other projects.
This, the statement said, is the normal route to take.
But, some stakeholders have urged the state government to consider the interest of the suffering masses that use the road, adding that, stopping work simply for lack of permission from it, woukd prolong the sufferings of the users.
