Controversies Trail Adeleke’s N53.4bn Road Projects

• Governor Awards 10.6bn Contract To Inactive Company

• We Awarded Contracts To Competent Firms – Govt

The credibility and accountability of Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration on its Phase I multibillion naira infrastructure plan has been put into question. 

Adeleke announced on October 27, 2023, an N100 billion infrastructure development plan for the state.

The project has five flyovers and 45 roads across the 30 local government areas to ease traffic across the state. 

Adeleke had, in December 2023, flagged off the construction of some of the selected flyovers and roads in Osogbo and other parts of the state.

However, the state government refused to disclose the amount of each of the awarded contracts and contractors handling the flyovers and roads until Friday, March 8. 

In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. Kolapo Alimi disclosed that the construction of a seven-span bridge at the Oke-Fia intersection, Osogbo was awarded to A’skorj Nigeria Limited at a cost of N10,764,206,257,58.

The construction of a four-span bridge at Lameco intersection, Osogbo was awarded to Kimzee Global Investment at a cost of N8,521,632,257,28, while Great Enyork Tech Limited was awarded the 5.50-km dualisation of Akoda-Baptist High School Ede at a cost of N12,200,512,000. 

The dualisation of 3.86km Baptist High School-Oke Gada, Ede; an N11,090,838,764 contract was awarded to Enginec International Engineering Limited, while the construction of a four-span bridge across Osun River and a dual 2-span bridge across Erinle River was awarded to Raregeode Company Limited at a cost of N3,937,072,827,00.

All the contracts are to be completed within 12 months.

However, Raregeode Company Limited which is handling the construction of a four-span bridge across the Osun River and a dual-span bridge across the Erinle River, is primarily owned by the Deputy Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Hon. Akinyode Oyewusi.

Though Oyewusi claimed to have resigned from the company in March 2023, information on the website of the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) revealed that the Deputy Speaker didn’t resign until August 24, 2023. 

Oyewusi was sworn-in as the deputy speaker on June 6, 2023, meaning that he was still a Person with Significant Control in the firm after two months of his inauguration.

In addition, the Acumen Forte Construction which is handling the dualization of the Old Garage-Oke-Fia-Lameco Junction with a sum of N5,822,105,829bn was also traced to him, with his wife, Fatima Oyewusi being a person with significant control till August 23, 2023. 

Another controversy trailing the contracts is the credibility of A’skorj Nigeria Limited, the company handling the construction of seven span bridge at the Oke-Fia intersection, Osogbo.

The company with registration number 1160780 was registered on December 18, 2013, in Ibadan, Oyo State. 

But the firm was marked inactive on the CAC website, meaning that it has no reported activities for a period of time. 

This has generated reactions from members of the public who are wondering why the state government would award a contract running into  billions of naira contract to an inactive company. 

A’skorj was registered for activities that include acquisition and sales of lands and buildings, real estate, property developer, general contractor and supplier. 

Findings by OSUN DEFENDER revealed that two Persons with Significant Control in the company are a husband and wife who are indigenes of Ede. 

The PSC are Kehinde Adebayo Olabode and Rofiat Olawunmi Olabode of 14, Babanla Agate Road, Ede, Osun State.

Further findings by this medium revealed that the husband and wife became PSC of the company on November 27, 2023.

The construction of seven span bridge at Oke-Fia intersection, Osogbo which A’skorj is handling was awarded on December 6, 2023, nine days after the couple became PSC.

A known critique of the Adeleke’s administration, M.r Akin Adeyi, had in February accused the Governor of awarding the contract to his family phony company (A’skorj Nigeria Limited).

But the state government in a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr Kolapo Alimi, declared that it only awarded contracts to competent companies. 

The statement which was released on February 18, 2024, reads: “The Osun State government has responded to fake news about a company handling the Osogbo dualisation and flyover project, declaring that “we award contracts to companies that are competent to deliver on specifications with lowest price quotations.

“We have no apologies to award a contract to any company irrespective of its address as long as it complies with bidding specifications in terms of competency to deliver on the job and with the lowest price.

“We are fixated on engaging the most competent firm based on the bidding process even if the office address is the palace of Timi of Ede.

“We are also conscious of the verifiable fact that the owners of such companies are not wholly or partly owned by a member of the Adeleke family.

“We assure the people of Osun state that all contracts are awarded within the context of due process as stipulated by the extant procurement laws of the state.”

Another hullabaloo on the Adeleke’s N53.4bn road project is the concentration on Ede. 

Of the seven contracts, Ede, the hometown of the Governor is a beneficiary of three major projects of Ede-Egbedi-Erin Osun inter-city road construction (N1,069,847,000), dualisation of Akoda-Baptist High School Ede (N12,200,512,000) and dualisation of Baptist High School-Oke Gada, Ede (N11,090,838,764).

The total contract sum allocated to Ede from the N53.4bn road project is N24.3bn.