Ogun State government, yesterday, clarified that there was no disagreement between it and the Federal Government on the present condition of the Abeokuta-Sango-Lagos expressway, saying that both governments are working hard to fix the road.
Speaking at a press conference, the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi, said the state had a cordial relationship with the Federal Government in finding a lasting solution to the deplorable condition of the road.
Talabi said: “What is happening is that the road is already contracted out and so it makes it difficult to go into a contracted road. On the source of funding, in recent times, the governor had personally delivered financial options to the Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, but they said no, that it was not going to work. We made another, they said it was not going to work and we did the third. We have moved around all the agencies that can support those options and they are in line.
“We are not aware that those options are not acceptable, but it would be that the Minister had advanced knowledge of that, but that was not communicated to us. I am sure those grey areas will be sorted out in no time.
“What I want us to know is that people find it difficult to differentiate between state and Federal Government roads. On that Sango-Ota-Ijoko road, there were options to use the tax credit to fund the reconstruction and we found somebody with a tax credit suitable enough to fund the road. And if there is a gap, we are prepared to fill those gaps and that has been communicated to the various ministries involved. Discussions are going on between the governor and the minister and I am sure they are working towards resolving the issues.”
