Soji Ajibola, Ibadan
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has revoked the Saki township road contract, which was awarded at the cost of N8.23bn by the immediate past administration of late Abiola Ajimobi.
The governor,who announced the revocation while inaugurating the remodelled and renamed Saki Specialist Hospital on Thursday, said that the contract would be re-awarded to a more competent contractor within the next four weeks.
Late former governor Abiola Ajimobi awarded the construction of the 9.7km dual carriage road project to Adolf Engineering Development Company at the sum of N8.23 billion in 2016.
However, Gov. Makinde explained that the revocation of the contract was imperative because of the health challenges the delay in the completion of the road was causing the people of the region.
He said, “You can hear from everybody that the road has been a nightmare since we came in.
“I invited the contractor, we spoke and he gave me his word that within three months we will see appreciable improvement with the level of work that has been done. I deliberately passed through the road today (Wednesday) and nothing appreciable has occurred.
“That contract was before we came on; so we are left with no other option because we need to look after the people. The dust is causing big health challenges for the people of Saki and we cannot allow it to continue forever.
“Within four weeks, we will re-award the project to someone who will do better.”
The governor also stated that with the ongoing revolution in the state’s health sector, his administration would deliver 351 model primary Health Care Centres at one per electoral ward in the state before the end of its tenure in 2023.
He said the current administration would go into the annals of Oyo State history as the one that turned existing and moribund health infrastructure into state-of-the-art medical facilities, saying “If Oyo State can start with attracting medical tourism from other states within Nigeria, it means that economic activities will ,significantly improve.”
The governor further said that as the government continued to upgrade health facilities in the state in line with its commitment to quality health care delivery, it would also continue to equip and maintain them and also ensure that they have the best personnel.
Makinde said: “It gives me great pleasure to be back here in Saki, less than three months after our last visit to commission this Infectious Disease Centre. This facility will now be named Saki Specialist Hospital. We have invested close to half a billion Naira on this facility. And for equipment alone, we have invested over N250,000,000.”