APC-Led FG Playing Politics By Abandoning Fed Roads In Our State – Gov Obaseki

The Edo State Government has decried the deplorable state of federal roads in the state, which has continued to deteriorate because the federal government has refused to heed advice and warning signals.
The government said Edo State is a transportation hub and is being negatively impacted by the state of the roads
Edo State is a transportation hub. It is concerning that the major federal road networks in the state, which connect several parts of the country, are in such deplorable conditions,” the government stated in a release.
These roads include the Benin-Sapele Road, Benin-Agbor Road, Benin-Auchi Road, Benin-Lagos Road at Ovia River Bridge, among several others.
It noted that communities have staged protests against the deplorable conditions of the roads to no avail.
“We don’t think that a region where the oil resources that sustain the country comes from should be this neglected.
“On several occasions, communities have protested the poor condition of the roads and the state government has intervened by calling on the federal government to speed up efforts to fix the roads.
“For instance, in October 2022, the governor urged the federal government to reconstruct the Benin-Auchi Road because the poor condition of the road had become really dangerous, fuelling insecurity in the state,” the statement noted.
The Edo State government also placed a ban on 30-ton and above heavy-duty vehicles passing through state roads as a measure to awaken federal government to its responsibilities, the statement added.
The state government’s position was disclosed in the statement on a Whatapp platform signed and issued out to the media by Crusoe Osagie, special adviser, Media Projects to Governor Godwin Obaseki.
A few months ago, the Department of State Security (DSS) in Edo State in its briefing noted that the Benin-Sapele Road was on the verge of collapse. The governor had also raised alarm over the deplorable condition of federal roads in Edo State at the National Executive Council (NEC) meetings to impress on the immediate past federal government, the urgent need to intervene and fix the roads.
Three weeks ago, multiple accidents on the Ovia River Bridge on the Benin-Lagos Road led to the loss of several lives, which necessitated renewed calls on the federal government to fix the damaged bridge, the governor’s aide stated.
“Our commissioner for Roads and Bridges,” he further stated, “has visited the damaged spot several times to inspect and provide temporary palliative.”
Recently, a federal lawmaker representing a constituency in Edo Central had a ghastly accident on the Ekpoma-Auchi-Abuja Road and is presently hospitalised.
According to Crusoe Osagie , the state government has made spirited efforts to fix the affected roads and approached the federal government for permission to carry out palliative repairs on them but the efforts were rebuffed because, “the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government insisted that the contract to fix the roads had been awarded”.
He said the refusal to fix the roads is a ploy to earn, by last minute repairs as the Edo governorship race draws close, cheap score for an APC victory.
He said, “It is now clear that these cries were ignored for political consideration. The APC-led federal government is deliberately delaying the fixing of these roads in an attempt to boost the ratings of its comatose state chapter as we approach the governorship elections scheduled for next year”.
Responding to criticism against Obaseki for the poor state of the roads especially after being stuck in traffic, the (SA) said, “It is curious that the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their social media hacks have taken to social media to accuse the Edo State Government of abandoning these roads. APC lie the loudest when they lie to themselves.
“The resort to petty politics when the lives of innocent Nigerians are lost on these roads is unconscionable and despicable.
“The APC-led federal government and state chapter should know that Edo people cannot be hoodwinked. Edo people know and appreciate the tremendous gains Edo has recorded under the Obaseki-led government, and no amount of propaganda will sway them from the path of truth.”
He called on the FG to urgently address the roads matter.
“We urge the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, desist from whatever political games it is involved in as regards these roads, and mobilise the contractors handling the roads to site so as to fix the roads and save Nigerians from the hardship and trauma they have been subjected to for several years,” Osagie said.