NGO urges rehabilitation of Lagos-Abeokuta expressway

A Non governmental organisation, Good Governance Initiative (GGI), has urged President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, to expedite action on the reconstruction of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

A statement signed by the leader of the organisation based in Sango-Ota, Ogun State, Alhaji Malik Ibitoye, stated that the Sango area of the road and some other parts stretching from Ijaiye to Kola, Alakuko, Toll-gate Bus/Stop and even extending to other parts of the road on the way to Abeokuta, had become eyesores and a source of embarrassment to both the state and the Federal Government.

The organisation affirmed that though Governor Dapo Abiodun was known to be proactive in the area of infrastructure development, it stated that most residents in the affected areas were unaware of the differences in federal, state and local governments, but emphasised that it’s undermining the image of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

The statement reads in parts: “There is no doubt that President Muhammadu Buhari and the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, are interested in APC winning Ogun State and some other states apart from winning at the federal level.

“However, the early completion of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway will boost the image of the APC, while doing the contrary would lead to 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 elections are fast-approaching.

“The APC cannot afford to allow this dangerous situation to continue at this material time when people are waiting for the scorecard of the state and federal governments.

“To this end, it is advisable that Fashola should revisit the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway project as he promised to do in a recent interview on national television, where he even told Governor Dapo Abiodun to allow the Federal Government to handle the road and that contractors would soon be mobilised to site to complete the project.

“It should be recalled that Governor Dapo Abiodun provided a palliative to a section of the road in the Sango area not too long, but the coming of the rain has further exposed the condition of the road and something should be done urgently to make it motorable as it is now always flooded in Sango area anytime rain falls.”