Ogun SSG Says No Rift Between State, FG on Abeokuta-Sango Road

•Bad politics cost state oil producing status, Daniel declares

James Sowole

The Ogun State Government yesterday said there was no dispute between it and the federal government on the state of the Abeokuta-Sango Ota Road, stressing that the state was only concerned about how to make the road motorable for commuters.

Also, a former Governor of Ogun State, Mr. Gbenga Daniel has blamed what he described as “bad politics” for the failure of the state to assume oil-producing status.

Commenting further on the Abeokuta-Sango Ota Road, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr. Tokunbo Talabi, made the clarification against comments by the Ogun State Governor, Mr. Dapo Abiodun on the neglect of the road 15 years after the award of contract for its reconstruction.

According to Talabi, the relationship between the state and the federal government remains cordial, saying that the move was to find a lasting solution to the deplorable condition of sections of the road.

He added that both governments in the past had looked at some issues together and taken turns to find solutions.

“What is happening is that the road is already contracted out and so it makes it difficult to go into a contracted road. On the source of funding, in recent times, the governor had personally delivered financial options to the Minister of Works, but they said not, that it was not going to work.

“We made another, they said it was not going to work and we did the third. We have moved around all the agencies that can support those options and they are in line.

“We are not aware that those options are not acceptable, but it would be that the Minister had an advance knowledge of that, but that was not communicated to us. I am sure those grey areas will be sorted out in no time.

“What I want us to know is that people find it difficult to differentiate between state and federal government roads,” he added.

Talabi said the state government had commenced work on the bad portions of the Sango-Ota-Ijoko road to ease the suffering of commuters on the road.

According to the SSG, reconstruction work would move towards Akute on the border with Lagos in the coming weeks.

He said: “On that Sango-Ota-Ijoko road, there were options to use tax credit to fund the reconstruction and we found somebody with a tax credit suitable enough to fund the road. And if there is a gap, we are prepared to fill those gaps and that has been communicated to the various ministries involved.

“Discussions are going on between the governor and the minister and I am sure they are working towards resolving the issues.”

Explaining some of the steps taken to address workers and pensioners’ demands, the SSG disclosed that the state government would henceforth pay gross salary to workers beginning from July, while the N500 million quarterly release to upset pensioner’s entitlements would also be sustained.

Talabi who disclosed that the total sum owed pensioners stood between N60 billion to N70 billion, also added that the total worker’s deductions amounted to about N10 billion.

Speaking earlier, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Abdulwaheed Odusile, while briefing on the decisions taken at the State Executive Council meeting held on Monday, revealed that the state government had awarded contracts for the construction of some roads across the three Senatorial districts.

Some of these roads according to Odusile include Ilaro-Owode road, Sagamu-Ikenne road, Siun-Owode road and Sagamu Round About- Iperu road.

Bad Politics Costs Ogun Oil Producing Status, Says Daniel

Meanwhile, Daniel blamed what he described as “bad politics” for the failure of the state to assume oil-producing status.

Daniel, who said that the state should have long been recognised among the oil-producing states, lamented that certain economic development projects his administration envisioned for the state were deliberately stalled by his successor.

The former governor, made the assertion in his remarks at a two-day Ogun East Senatorial District Interactive Forum held in Sagamu, where he appealed to the federal government to take over the state-owned Gateway Industrial and Petro-Gas Institute, Oni.

No fewer than 120 participants, drawn from the nine local government areas of the senatorial district, attended the workshop organised by the Gateway Movement in collaboration with the Political Leadership Academy (POLA).

He said, “By now, Ogun State should have been declared an oil-producing state but because of bad politics, the state has yet to enjoy the status.

“Many of you who are politicians don’t have an understanding of what the game is all about; not everything can be said in the public domain.

“Our future and the future of our children is what we are talking about. There are great potentials in Ogun State. There is oil here but some people don’t want us to be declared as an oil-producing. They are a lot. So, if we are able to break loose these shackles, we will be in a position to reposition our area.”

Daniel, who is the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Ogun East in 2023 elections, said his agenda, if elected would be to restore the pride and confidence of Ijebu and Remo people.