••• As Governor Begins Compensation Payment For Properties Demolished By Predecessor
•••You Lied, Ogun Did Not Owe N202billion Under Amosun, Ademolake Tells Abiodun
| The Daily Crucible | Monday, August 29, 2022
Governor Dapo Abiodun on Monday disclosed that his predecessor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, left a debt burden of N202billion for him on road projects alone.
This is about the first time this administration is letting indigenes and residents of Ogun State into a part of the debt liability it inherited from the immediate past administion.
Abiodun made this known just as he is set to begin paying compensation to owners of properties demolished by Amosun -led administration to pave way for the expansion of some road projects across the state.
The governor said that the approved payment of compensation would commence soon to alleviate the sufferings of those affected.
Amosun embarked on massive demolition of properties across the state in his desire to expand some roads to as much as 8-lanes without paying compensation to affected owners.
In addition, it was double jeopardy as many of the roads were abandoned midway during the construction process, while others did not take off at all.
Commissioner for Works, Engr. Ade Akinsanya, who spoke on the issue at the weekend, said the governor has approved the compensation payment, which will be in phases.
Akinsanya noted that the demolitions carried out by Amosun’s administration were unnecessary, adding that it ended up compounding the problems being faced by the present government.
According to him, the state government now has billions of compensation claims to contend with in addition to looking for another huge sums of money to complete the abandoned roads.
He noted that the Abiodun administration inherited outstanding debt of N202billion from the Amosun government on roads alone.
The commissioner said the state government has decided on the policy of no demolition in its project execution, except where necessary and unavoidable.
He said the last administration had earmarked some houses for demolition preparatory to the rehabilitation of Kemta-Somorin road in Abeokuta. The project is nearing completion without any demolition carried out, he added..
“Our road design and construction is such that we try to avoid demolition. It is actual not necessary to demolish while constructing roads, unless it is actually unavoidable.
“The same thing applies to bridge construction. Most of the bridges constructed by that regime were a waste of resources. For instance, on the entire stretch of the 19kilometers Atan-Lusada-Agbara road has only one bridge. And the length is short,” he said.
However, a resident of Agbado, who lost many shops to Amosun’s bulldozers, Mr. Abayomi Olanreway, commended Governor Abiodun for his magnanimity.
He berated the last administration for subjecting people to unwarranted hardship, even as he regretted that the road had been abandoned for more than six years now that the demolition took place.
Olanrewaju, who said he depended on his shops to survive before the demolition, also disclosed that their road was better before the bulldozer moved in for the massive destruction.
Another resident, Taiwo Adebari, also expressed gratitude to the state government, noting that the compensation will help in alleviating some of their sufferings.
But reacting, a retired permanent secretary of the Ogun State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure, Kayode Ademolake has said the claim by Dapo Abiodun led administration that Amosun left N202b debt is false.
Mr. Ademolake who was responding to the Commissioner for Works, Engr. Ade Akinsanya who over the weekend said "Abiodun's administration inherited outstanding debt of N202billion from the Amosun government on roads alone," said the governor lied.
"You lied, Ogun Did Not Owe N202billion Under Amosun," Ademolake said.
"For your information, Ogun state never owed N202b under Amosun regime ,not even one kobo .It was an amount estimated to complete all ongoing and outstanding/proposed road. The statement is completely a fallacy .No"
"That’s not correct. It is simply an amount to be spent on various projects if they are to be completed and not a debt. It is a deliberate distortion of facts.
"It can take like 5-6 years for all of this projects to be completed.This is called rolling plans, year in and out. It is not a debt."
"State budget on roads is usually about N60b a year. So a project of N202b May take like 5years to complete by a state government. It is a continuous process, no state government has that type of resources to pay at a go, such an amount of money," Ademolake added.
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