The Oyo State Executive Council on Wednesday approved the award of reconstruction of the 45.3 kilometres Saki-Igboho road to China Construction Company Nig Ltd at a cost of N8.7billion.
Mr Jacob Ojekunle, the state Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, made this known in Ibadan while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the State Executive Council meeting presided over by Gov. Seyi Makinde.
Ojekunle said the project, which was awarded through the Alternative Project Funding Approach (APFA), was expected to be completed within 18 months.
“This approach offers several advantages over the traditional procurement methods; now that the federal allocation to the state is low, adoption of APFA for some infrastructural projects has become necessary,” he said.
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He said that the Makinde administration prioritised expansion of its economy “being driven by agriculture” by construction/ rehabilitation of roads, especially in agrarian dominated areas of the state, to enhance agriculture productivity.
“Once these roads are rehabilitated, we will have ways of bringing our farm products to the mainstream.
“The contractor will be paid just 20 per cent of the contract sum once the letter of award is given and subsequently the balance would be paid from statutory allocations, based on the contractor’s performance,” he said.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Environment and Natural Resources, Dr Lateef Oyeleke, disclosed that the State Executive Council approved the installation of 58 boreholes across the 33 LGAs in the state.
According to him, the contract was awarded at the twilight of the last administration but was revoked due to observed inadequacies bordering on transparency, fairness and accountability.
“The total sum for this contract is N312.2million and it is expected that this contract will be completed within six months of this approval”, Oyeleke said.