Minister of Works, Engineer David Umahi, has described Oyo State governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, as the Law of Evidence in the transformation of the state.
He also declared that the governor is the Law of Witness in alleviating the sufferings of the people as regards infrastructure development.
Umahi said this while commending Makinde when he paid him a courtesy visit at the Governor’s Office, alongside officials of his ministry, on Thursday.
The minister noted that the Oyo State helmsman is one of the few governors that are putting the welfare of their people first.
Umahi said Makinde deserved to be commended for not waiting to get a commitment for refund from the Federal Government before going ahead to fix federal roads in the state.
He added that the interest and well-being of the people must always be first for those in government.
The former Ebonyi State governor said he was in the South-West to inspect Federal Government infrastructure projects.
Umahi said: “I am very proud to call you Engineer Seyi Makinde, the governor of Oyo State. I am happy to be here.
“Let me use this opportunity to congratulate you on your well-deserved re-election victory. I am not surprised with what you have been doing, being an engineer.
“Since you have been in the saddle, anyone who comes to Oyo State will see the massive transformation. Congratulations.
“I am touring all the projects of the Federal Government in the South-West. I have had meetings with all the contractors handling our projects across the country.
“After such meetings, I needed to physically inspect those projects, offer advice and have total information of what is going on and also ascertain the quality of the work being done.
“Let me first commend you for the jobs you are doing in Oyo State. I will continue to say this: we have what we call the Law of Evidence and Law of Witness.
“You have become our Law of Evidence and Law of Witness in alleviating the sufferings of the people without saying this is a federal or state road.”
Responding, Governor Makinde, as contained in a release by his Chief Press Secretary, Sulaimon Olanrewaju, appreciated Umahi for his kind words.
He stated that the appointment of the former governor of Ebonyi State as the Minister of Works was well-deserved.
He added that he has no doubt that Umahi had the wherewithal to achieve success in the task, as his records as a governor spoke for him.
The governor assured Umahi that his administration would always be committed to developing road infrastructure in the state.
He said once the state considered any federal road as being central to its economy, it would not be deterred by whether or not the Federal Government is ready to refund immediately.
Makinde said his government had demonstrated that resolve with the reconstruction of the 34-kilometre Oyo-Iseyin Road.
He also disclosed that the road would be commissioned by a former president of the country, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo.
Governor Makinde also commended the Federal Director of Highways in the state for cooperating with his administration.
He said: “I have been here for four years. For us, if a road is important to our economy, we just go ahead and do it.
“An example is the Oyo-Iseyin Road. It is a federal road, and it took us two years to get the approval. But the road is passing through our agribusiness hub.
“I visited the Minister of Works several times then. We had gone through the process of awarding the contract and we were going to spend up to N9bn and we had set aside the money.
“So, they gave us the approval to fix it, but they said we should follow the federal standard. We gave it to the contractor and added an extra N1bn to the project.
“I am happy to tell you that the 34.85km project is going to be commissioned on 15 September. Former President Obasanjo is coming to commission the project.
“It will demonstrate to the country that for whatever is important to the people, one should not pass the buck. We are not asking for a refund straight away, but the records are there.
“Also, the one you mentioned from Ibadan to Ilesa, Ife Road, the road linking our airport. When we came in, we said we would need to fix the road.
“So, we approached the Federal Government, and it became an issue of funding.
“We said we would fund it and get a refund from the contractor as funds became available to the Federal Government.
“The bottomline is that the road is very important to us. 19km is on our own side but the one we awarded is about 5.6km, which we paid for.”
