Having considered the economic importance of abandoned 62km Atan-Lusada-Igbesa-Agbara road which is a major road that connects arguably, the largest industrial hub in the country, Ogun state government has begun a contract review of the the road construction started by immediate past Governor Ibikunle Amosun in the state.
The construction of 62km dual-carriage Atan-Lusada-Igbesa-Agbara road which had a contract sum of N23 billion was then agreed to be jointly financed by Ogun state government with the 60% contribution as well as 40% contribution from all the investors operating in the axis of the state for which the construction had earlier begun in 2017 with a N5 billion mobilisation fee, but it was later abandoned at the expiration of former Governor Amosun’s tenure.
But, the effort to resume construction on the abandoned road commenced again last year when the team of African Finance Corporation (AFC) reached a finance agreement with Governor Dapo Abiodun-led Ogun state government to fund critical infrastructure in the state on Build, Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement, including the abandoned 62km Atan-Igbesa-Agbara road.
Speaking at the virtual town hall meeting held for the people and residents of Ogun West Senatorial District on Thursday on the proposed 2021 state fiscal estimates, Govenror Dapo Abiodun declared that the contractual agreement to facilitate a Public-Private Partnership model to finance and fix 62km Atan-Lusada-Igbesa-Agbara road had reached an advanced stage and it would soon be completed to pave way for the immediate construction works.
He said, ‘’I am the governor of Ogun State and for all the people. I have no deliberate intention, to develop any part of the state at the expense of the other. We will continue to give the attention that is due to every part of the state.
“We have requested the Federal Government to hand over the Agbara-Lusada as well as the Sango- Abeokuta roads to us and we are not oblivious of the fact that these roads are in very deplorable states and we are committed to fixing them’’.
He stated that his administration is committed to ensuring commercial viability of the Ogun West Senatorial District being a key hub for commercial activities and the busiest border between the state and the international community of Republic of Benin, adding that this status necessitated the strategic choice of Ogun West as the first beneficiary of his administration’s road construction.
The governor said that the State government had completed the Ray Power road of 2km and Ikola/Navy-Osi-Ota road of 1.92km, making a total of 3.92km in length while other ongoing projects and rehabilitation of roads in Ogun-West Senatorial District include Imeko-Afon-Agbede-Iwoye Road, Ilaro – Owode Road, Afa Bridge Ipokia Roads, Koro Otun –Itele Road, Ado-Odo/Ota, Empire Ground Road, Ilaro, Ota – Owode Idiroko Road, Igbesa-Ejira Road, Papalanto –Ilaro Yewa Frontier Hotel Road, Sango – Joju Lagos/Abeokuta expressway among others.
