The Senate has summoned the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, to appear before it to explain the abandonment of a portion of the Ogbomoso-Oyo Road by the contractor assigned to handle it.
This decision, made on Wednesday, followed a motion of urgent public importance moved by Senator Buhari Abdulfatai (APC-Oyo North), who expressed concern over the worsening state of the road.
The lawmaker noted that the road, a vital link between the South and the North, has become a source of severe hardship for travellers.
he said “Senate notes that in the last month, the people of Ogbomoso land have been plunged into an unprecedented crisis, occasioned by a tragic petrol tanker accident that occurred on the road, which resulted in traffic gridlock, rendered some inhabitants of the area homeless, paralysed economic activities as well as claimed some innocent lives.
“Further worried that this road, which is less than 500 meters long, has become a deathtrap, responsible for numerous accidents in recent times, as over ten accidents have occurred within just a few days, leading to loss of lives, injuries, and devastating impacts on businesses, whereby perishable goods from the north have been ruined, and shipments from ports and companies, amounting to millions of naira, left stranded.”
The upper chamber asked Senator Barinada Mpigi, (PDP, Rivers South-East) led Committee on Works to immediately summon the Minister to unravel the circumstances that led to the abandonment of the said project.
Lawmakers also urged the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, direct the relevant authorities to complete the rehabilitation of the old Ogbomoso-Oyo Road to forestall further negative occurrences on the road.
