The Kogi State government on Wednesday said about 40 percent of all the ongoing road projects embarked upon across the three senatorial districts of the state would be completed and ready for commissioning by January 2019.
Chief of Staff to the Kogi State Governor, Chief Edward Onoja gave hint in Lokoja while speaking to newsmen on the sidelines of the 27th anniversary of the state.
He said the road projects which were at various stages of completion would receive more attention as soon as the rainy seasons recede.
“Work on the Olamaboro Ikeje-Ibana-Okpo road has moved on progressively. It has left Ibana, it has gone to Okpo; it has left Okpo, it has gone to Ogugu around Odo-Idoko.
“I believe that once the contractors get mobilised as the rains recede, they will head towards the terminal point.
“The Idah-Umomi road has also made a lot of progress. It remains about 12 miles to completion.
“The Agasa-Upogoro road in the Central District has relatively gone very far. The Ife-Olukotun Iyamoye road in the West Senatorial district has equally moved on well”, he said.
Onoja lamented that the state has not witnessed the expected development and progress almost 27 years of its existence due to mismanagement of state resources by past administrations, adding that the government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello has been blocking leakages and working hard to change the negative narratives of underdevelopment across the state .
“The governor has blocked a lot of leakages. A typical example is this one; former governor Ibrahim Idris built the Greater Lokoja Water Works with about N6 billion and every month, Kogi was spending N100 million on maintenance to keep the water running.
“And so, in one year, it is 1.2bn and in four years, you would have spent more money than the cost of building the Greater Lokoja Water Works itself.
“It was a leaking pipe and an avenue to siphon fund. Under his Excellency, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, with 30 to 40 million monthly, the water is still running today. So, who was taking the differential of N70m. Where was it going to?” he queried.
He said the present administration since assumption in office in 2016 had done a lot in improving security, boosting internally generated revenues; improving healthcare delivery, education and job creation, amongst others.
Onoja called on people of the state to continue to cooperate with the government of Alhaji Yahaya Bello to enable him deliver the needed development to them.
Credit: Daily Trust
