The Lagos State government has faulted the Federal Government’s allegation that the state was doing nothing on the federal roads within its domain, describing that allegation as baseless and a figment of the imagination.
Due largely to political differences, Lagos and the Federal Government have always been embroiled in subtle battles, sometimes crystallising in verbal attacks and open disagreement. This time, Adedayo Adeyeye, the minister of state for works, was quoted as saying, at the weekend, that when Federal Government roads were removed from Lagos State, there was nothing tangible left for the state to do, adding that the state government did not maintain federal roads and bridges within its territory.
This is, however, to be expected at a time like this in Nigeria when politicians and their parties, desperate to win elections, are at one another’s jugular and given that Lagos and the Federal Government represent the two frontline parties—All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), respectively— anything is expected from their adherents intent on running down their respective governments.
Read also: Tumbling naira weighs on consumer prices as inflation moves up to 8.2%
In a swift reaction, the state government addressed the press on Monday, saying the minister’s comments were premised on ignorance of the facts on ground, giving instances of federal roads that the state government had reconstructed and/or repaired. “We have 5,500 kilometres of roads in Lagos; of this number, 11.4 percent be- longs to the Federal Government; 53 percent belongs to the state government while 35.6 percent belongs to the local governments in the state”, Femi Hamzat, the state commissioner for works and infrastructure, disclosed to newsmen at the conference.
The commissioner said it was pertinent for them to put the records straight so that the public would not be misinformed about the state government’s commitment to maintaining roads and bridges infrastructure, recalling that following the valuation of work done on federal roads by the state government, the Federal Government was owing the state N51 billion till date.
Lagos Badagry Expressway, Eko Bridge (34 expansion joints), Mile 12/Ikorodu Road are some of the federal roads done by the state and, in the opinion of the commissioner, “no state has done the number of roads this state has done”, noting that some of the roads no longer belonged to the Federal Government alone, because the state government has committed huge resources in their maintenance and reconstruction.
