Akpabio laments: I was stuck in traffic for hours on Ogun road

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, has lamented the pain and hardship motorists plying the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta expressway go through following the deplorable condition of the road.

Akpabio, who lamented that he was stuck in traffic for over two hours on the road while going for the 2023 Yewa Cultural Festival held in Ilaro, Ogun State, said the Senate would give the necessary support to the Ogun State Government on the reconstruction of the road and other deplorable federal roads in the state.

The Senate President said this at the grand finale of the Yewa Cultural Festival in Ilaro in the Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State on Saturday, October 14, 2023.

Akpabio, who was accompanied by 70 senators to the event, said he insisted on driving to the venue for him to have first-hand experience of what people go through on the road everyday, adding that it took his team more than two hours to drive to Ilaro from Lagos.

He said: “When I was coming, I decided to pass through the Lagos-Abeokuta, Papalanto-Ilaro road to experience the pain you people are facing on the road.

“I spent about two hours in traffic along Papalanto-Ilaro road because two tankers fell on the road. I really sympathise with you. I went through what you people are passing through on daily basis.

“I am giving Governor Abiodun the Senate support in rehabilitation of these important roads.

“I was determined to go through the road that you go through. Now, I have seen what you have been seeing. From today, I prophesy that your roads are done.

“Yewaland has the greatest number of industries that local government can ever have in Nigeria, just five local governments.

“Therefore, we recognise the need to use the best set of contractors to do your roads because of the wear and tear. I assure you that we will be working with our brother, Dapo Abiodun. Your lives will not be the same again.

“The 10th Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is going to get the list of things you want us to do here.”

Akpabio, who was conferred with the chieftaincy title of ‘Fiwagboye’ of Yewaland by the Yewa Traditional Council, further called on youths in Yewaland and the state to stay off drugs and other fraudulent activities, assuring them that their lives would be better when they stayed clean.

On his part, Governor Abiodun pleaded with the Senate to prevail on the Federal Government to transfer the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta Road to the state, saying it is import to the socio-economic development of the state.

The governor said it took him three hours to drive from Abeokuta to Ilaro, noting that efforts made by the state to ensure the transfer of the road did not yield any positive results.

Abiodun said his administration is currently concluding discussions on the reconstruction of the Abeokuta-Olorunda-Imeko and the Abeokuta-Iborro-Ilaro roads.

He said: “I also want to announce to you that I am currently concluding discussions with the Minister of Works on the reconstruction of the Abeokuta-Olorunda-Imeko road and the completion of the Abeokuta-Iborro-Ilaro road. This will complement the Imasayi-Iborro-Ayetoro road.

“Mr Senate President, it took me three hours to get here from Abeokuta. I am sure it took you just as much to get here from Lagos because of the deplorable state of Lagos-Abeokuta Road. Mr Senate President, please help us with the Federal Government to transfer this road to us. This road is very key to our socio-economic economic development.”

The Star

Segun Ojo