Tracka debunks claims of rehabilitation of Opo Malu Road, Saki, by Federal Controller of Works

Tracka issued a statement calling out the payment of N8.6 billion to twenty-six contractors for 19 projects that have either been abandoned or uncompleted, which was covered in the 2022 Project Tracking Report themed “Empowering Communities for Economic Growth.”

In the statement, we highlighted the payment of N400 million to Laralek Ultimate Ltd in March 2023 under the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing for the Limited Rehabilitation of Opo Malu Road, Saki, Oyo State, stating that the contractor for this site never reported to the site as at the time of publication.

TRACKA monitored this project in August 2023 and reconfirmed its status in September 2023 before releasing our statement.

However, on November 10, 2023, the Federal Controller of Works, Oyo State, Kayode Ibrahim, released a rebuttal challenging our findings and claimed the project, as mentioned earlier, had been executed as specified. In the rebuttal, Kayode Ibrahim claimed Opo Malu Road “traverses eleven communities beginning from Opo Malu Junction through Orogun Road to Isale Adini in Saki” and that the project has been implemented in some sections of the quoted areas.

The claim is misleading because Opo Malu Road, Saki, is a stretch of 2km road. Tracka has collected overwhelming evidence that the road still lies unattended by the contractor to date. In the rebuttal, Kayode Ibrahim tacitly confessed to diverting the project to a different location, violating the award contract.

TRACKA re-visited Opo Malu Road again on Friday, November 10, 2023, to record the latest situation of the road. Unfortunately, the 2km road was still as we met it when we visited in August, and in a worse state, with residents and commuters plying the road lamenting and angry at Kayode Ibrahim’s claims that the road has been fixed.

Attached to this letter is a video of the 2km road as recorded on Friday, November 10, 2023, and clips of Opo Malu community leaders in an interview by iTV Online, an independent media outfit, on Saturday, November 11, 2023, stating that the road is yet to be fixed, contrary to what Kayode Ibrahim claims.

Tracka has no interest in going back and forth with contractors or agencies. What we demand is the quality execution of funded public projects. This road is a critical connection to other communities in Saki, and its implementation will significantly improve community members’ economic and physical well-being.

We use this medium to frown against Kayode Ibrahim and any other government agent’s continuous harassment of our staff. We are a civil society organization working for the interest of the citizens and ensuring taxpayers’ money works for the good of all. We equally call on the federal anti-corruption agencies—EFCC and ICPC to look into and get to the bottom of this matter.

Tracka’s 2022 project tracking report can be downloaded here: https://www.tracka.ng/#/downloads/home

Signed

Ayomide Ladipo

Head, Tracka