Nigeria: Govt Stops Road Project Facilitated By Gbenga Daniel As Ogun Political Crisis Worsens

Ogun State Government has ordered the contractor handling the Paddy-Arikawe Oye Igbimo Road reconstruction in Sagamu area of the state to stop work, citing lack permission to undertake the project.

The contract awarded by the Presidency to Minim and Tonye Nigeria Limited, was facilitated by Senator Gbenga Daniel, representing Ogun East.

The development is seen as a fresh twist in the ongoing political bickering between Governor Dapo Abiodun and Daniel.

In a letter signed by the Permanent Secretary of the State Ministry of Works, Engr. Dr. Yusuf L.O., the contractor was directed to suspend operations immediately on the grounds that “necessary permit/clearance was not obtained from the State Government before commencement.”

The letter further argued that the contractor’s action “negates the normal due process which ought to be followed before commencing work on a State Government road.”

Daniel’s Media Aide, Steve Oliyide, told Daily Trust that the stop-work order is another “sinister motive” by the Abiodun government against a project by the former governor.

Oliyide also accused the government of deliberately sabotaging the efforts of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu towards impacting the lives of the people positively.

He said “This is not the first project he has interested with. The Sagamu Aiyepe road already has a budgetary approval, signed into Law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and now sooner that the Contractors were mobilised to site than the Ogun State government moved in, the same thing happened with the Gateway Hotel and road in Ijebu Ode when the FG contractor was chased out of location, his signboard removed and the Ogun State government rolled out capital as if they wanted to do it. When the FG contractor left, the Ogun State government also left the road abandoned and unattended.

“This is denying the people of Ogun East Senatorial District the benefits of FG Interventions and it is sad. If the State government continues like this, they are just deliberately sabotaging the efforts of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu towards impacting the lives of the people positively. It is a sabotage of the Federal government efforts and an attempt to portray the president in bad light before the People.”

But in a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Kayode Akinmade, the Ogun State government clarified that the contractor, Minim and Tonye Nigeria Limited, was only asked to follow due process and apply for permission from the government, because the road in question is a state road.

According to the statement, having discovered a contractor working on the road, which was earlier scheduled for repairs by Governor Abiodun, the state government asked the contractor to apply for permission stating the scope of work expected to be done, which would enable the state government to take the road off its schedule.

According to the statement, no one can carry out any repair work on a road without obtaining the necessary permission, which is why a state government intent on repairing any federal road must first obtain the Federal Government’s permission.

The statement said: “Nigerians will recall that for a long time, the Ogun State Government could not carry out any repair works on federal roads like the Abeokuta-Sango Ota road because the then Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, refused to give the state permission. In their utter ignorance, the authors of the fake news claimed that the Federal Government had approved the construction of a road belonging to Ogun State.

“If not for outright mischief carried out on behalf of their drowning principal, how can anyone equate asking a contractor to obtain necessary approval before working on a state road to stopping the project because of alleged political hostility? How do you work on a state road, indeed any road, without obtaining the necessary approval?”

The statement recalled that in a letter dated February 1, 2025, a former federal lawmaker, Hon Adewunmi Onanuga, sought permission to start construction work on four rural roads, namely Sokanmade Road, Ewuga; Oko and Ada Road, Simawa; Itamaro to Ilara road; Alhaja Ogunsanya Street, Irolu, among other projects.

This, the statement said, is the normal route to take.

By Daily Trust.