NGO Urges FG to Expedite Action on Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway

James Sowole in Abeokuta

A non-governmental organisation, Good Governance Initiative (GGI), led by a Public Affairs analyst based in Sango-Ota, Ogun State, Alhaji Malik Ibitoye, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, to expedite action on the reconstruction of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.

The group made the call in a statement telling Fashola that the dilapidated condition of some portions on the road was causing negative publicity for the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government.

Ibitoye said in the statement signed by him that the Sango area of the road as well as other parts stretching from Ijaiye to Kola, Alakuko, Toll Gate Bus Stop and other parts of the road on the way to Abeokuta, the state capital, has become eyesores and a source of embarrassment to both the state and federal governments.

While saying that the state Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, is known to be proactive in the area of infrastructural development, the analyst said it is obvious that many residents of the state are ignorant of the demarcation of roads as local, state and federal roads, adding that the issue has led to bad publicity for the APC.

He said: “There is no doubt that President Buhari and the Minister of Works and Housing, Fashola, are interested in APC winning Ogun State and some other states apart from winning at the federal level.

“However, the early completion of Lagos-Abeokuta expressway will boost the image of the APC, while doing the contrary would lead to a bad publicity for the party.

“The adversaries of the Ogun State Government and rival political parties are capitalising on the bad state of the road to spread falsehood about the state and federal governments, and this is dangerous as the 2023 general election is fast approaching.”

The organisation emphasised the need for the federal government to rise to the occasion and make the expressway motorable, adding that the road is strategic to the movement of the people to the state capital and to other parts of the country.

While making allusion to a trending video on the road, Malik said an urgent action must be taken to make the road passable as Abiodun has been working with the limited resources available to the state government to provide good governance for the people of the gateway state.