The Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, and the leader of the All Progressives Congress in the state, Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki, have called on the Federal Government to pay the balance of what the state government expended on the construction of Kosubosu-Chikanda-Ilesha- Baruba Road, a Federal Government road.
Ahmed and Saraki said this was to enable the state embark on the construction of other federal but strategic roads in the state.
Ahmed and Saraki made the call in the course of the APC campaign in Alapa, Ballah, Aboto-Oja and Afon, all in Asa Local Government Area of the state.
The APC chieftains noted that the Kwara State Government during the tenure of Saraki as governor, carried out the construction of the road in order to alleviate the suffering of the people of Baruten Local Government Area when the Federal Government failed to work on the road.
Senator Saraki, who is the chairman of the Senate Committee on Environment and Ecology, noted that it was unfortunate and disturbing that for many years, the Federal Government has remained unwilling to offset the balance of about N4 billion of the cost of the federal road project.
The former governor also decried what he called “the non presence of federal projects in Kwara State in the last six years of Dr Goodluck Jonathan presidency”.
He recalled that the last time the Federal Government presence was felt was some six years ago when late Alhaji Umar Yar’Adua was president.
On his part, Ahmed said the non payment of the money by the Federal Government has not deterred his administration from awarding Federal Government roads contracts.
According to him, the state government recently awarded the 64-kilometre Kaiama-Kishi federal road and the Ilesha-Baruba-Gwanarra road project in order to open up the areas and ease movement of the people.
The governor promised that the state government would soon commence work on the Aboto-Oja-Oyo Boundary road project in order to ease movement of people and goods in that part of the state.