… Ojudu, residents allege ‘quiet substitution’ of project
… Umahi orders contractors back to site
… Says second lane will get concrete makeover
Residents of Ondo and Ekiti states have expressed concerns over the fate of the 50-kilometre Akure/Ado-Ekiti highway dualisation project, awarded at N95.9 billion, after contractors abandoned the site with only one carriageway delivered.
According to residents and commuters, the dual carriageway promised in May 2023 was supposed to have been completed by May 2025.
The original contract for the road, valued at about N30 billion, was awarded to Dantata & Sawoe in November 2019 but was later cancelled.
On 29 March 2023, the Federal Executive Council approved its re-award as a 50-kilometre dualisation project for N95.98 billion.
The Akure–Ondo State boundary section was awarded jointly to Samchase Nigeria Limited and Horizon Construction Company Limited for N46.68 billion with a 24-month completion period, while the section from the Ekiti boundary towards Ado-Ekiti was awarded to Kopek Construction Limited for N49.29 billion with a 30-month timeline.
The project was formally flagged off in May 2023 by the former minister of works and housing, Babatunde Fashola, and the minister of state for transport, Ademola Adegoroye.
Fashola assured the public that the road would cost over N90 billion and be completed within 24 months and that financing had been secured through the NNPC Tax Credit Scheme, guaranteeing that construction would not stop until completion.
Tomisin Akinbode, a resident of Akure who runs a small business along the highway, stated that “they built bridges wide enough for two lanes, but we only have one. It is painful to see the infrastructure for a dual carriageway just sitting there, abandoned.
“We were told in 2023 that the road would be completed within 24 months. Now we are in August 2026 and nothing is happening on the other side. Where did our money go? The contractors have vanished, and no one is telling us if they are ever coming back.”
…Full details later
