The 8-kilometer Mowe-Ofada road in Obafemi Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State will be completed by the end of next month.

Governor Dapo Abiodun disclosed this during an assessment and inspection of work done so far on the road yesterday.

He immediately approved the rehabilitation of Adesan road in the same axis after appeals by representatives of the community.

Prince Abiodun, while noting that his administration, since it came on board in 2019, had ensured equitable distribution of infrastructure across the 20 local governments in the state, noted that the Mowe-Ofada road fell in the category of abandoned roads his administration inherited from the immediate past government in the state.

He said the road was in a deplorable condition because, although contract for the rehabilitation was awarded by the past government, only the binder course and the drainages were done.

The governor said the present administration had to renegotiate with the contractor, and release funds to continue the project since governance was a continuum.

“I have come here today (yesterday) on an inspection and assessment of what the contractor is doing. I want to remind us about the state of this road when we assumed office in 2019.

“The previous government did a binder course on some parts of the road; there are some parts that they did not do a binder course, they did the drainages and left it like that.

“By the time we came on board, the binder course had been destroyed because once you do a binder course, you must do what we call the wearing course, which will ensure the longevity of the road.

“We had to renegotiate the contract with the contractor; we gave him more money because I have always believed that governance is a continuum. If it was another person, he would have cancelled the contract because it wasn’t awarded by them.

“But, one government comes, another one goes, it is you our people that pay taxes for us to use to construct these projects. The money belongs to you and not any man. We, therefore, decided that the road must be finished.

“We mobilized the contractor, the entire length is about eight kilometres and we told him that all the places that were done and are no longer good should be done first. So, those places where the binder course is still good, they have started to lay asphalt and wearing course on it,” he said.

Prince Abiodun said the project had been redesigned to accommodate an outfall to ensure smooth flow of water in the drainage.

“We noticed that the drainage was not flowing anywhere because no outfall was provided. We have since redesigned for an outfall so that the drainage will now begin to flow,” he said.

The governor reiterated the importance of the road as an alternative to the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

“This Mowe-Ofada road represents an alternative road to the Lagos-Ibadan expressway. This community is our border community with Lagos State, a lot of people live and work here, others live here and work in Lagos State. They are constantly commuting between Lagos and Ogun states,” he said.

The governor expressed appreciation to the people of the local government for their support, especially during the general elections, even as he called for their continued support and patience.