Ex-minister Adegoroye lauds Tinubu for sustaining Akure–Ado road project

…Says Fashola, not Umahi, deserves credit for award

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

Former Minister of State for Transportation, Prince Ademola Adegoroye, has commended President Bola Tinubu for sustaining the Akure–Ado Ekiti road project initiated under the Muhammadu Buhari administration.

In a statement issued in Akure, Adegoroye said the President’s decision to continue the project with its original specifications demonstrated statesmanship and commitment to infrastructure development.

He recalled that Tinubu personally experienced the difficulties of the road during the 2014/2015 Buhari campaign and understands its importance to the people of Ondo and Ekiti states.

Reacting to comments credited to legal luminary, Chief Adeniyi Akintola (SAN), Adegoroye expressed reservations over the attribution of the project to the current Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, instead of his predecessor, Babatunde Raji Fashola.

“I was a member of the Federal Executive Council when the project was awarded and when it was flagged off with massive mobilisation fees already paid to the contractors by the Buhari administration. To give Umahi the credit instead of Fashola is blatantly unfair and beats my imagination, especially since the facts are in the public domain,” he said.

The former minister disclosed that he and former Ekiti State Governor, Niyi Adebayo, who was then Minister of Industry, played critical roles in securing the project’s approval. He also acknowledged the contributions of the late Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, and former Ekiti Governor, Kayode Fayemi, in pushing for the road’s construction.

According to him, Fashola, as Works Minister, not only promised to redesign and expand the road but also ensured that it was executed to last for decades.

Adegoroye further weighed in on governance in the South-West, cautioning against unfair comparisons between Lagos, Ogun, and Oyo—where governors are in their seventh year in office—and Ekiti, Osun, and Ondo, whose current governors have spent less than four years.

He praised the efforts of Osun’s Governor Ademola Adeleke, Ekiti’s Governor Biodun Oyebanji, and Ondo’s Governor Lucky Ayedatiwa, describing Ayedatiwa as a “quiet, strategic, and focused administrator” whose developmental strategies are beginning to show results.

While urging Nigerians to seek clarification before making public statements, Adegoroye said he believed Akintola’s remarks on the Akure–Ado road project were not mischievous but based on insufficient information.

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