ABUJA, Nigeria – Tolulope Akande-Sadipe, the lawmaker representing the Oluyole Federal Constituency of Oyo State in the House of Representatives, has vehemently denied reports that she inflated the contract sum of a road rehabilitation project.
Akande-Sadipe’s response comes in the wake of accusations that she conspired with officials from the Federal Ministry of Works to inflate the budget for a 45-kilometer road project from N9 billion to N54 billion.
These allegations were publicized by DC Engineering Limited, the contractor handling the project, during a public hearing in Abuja organized by the House of Representatives.
“The contractor is attempting to discredit me, overlooking the five years they’ve taken to not even complete one kilometer of this critical infrastructure,” Akande-Sadipe told journalists on Tuesday, September 12, 2023.
“Rather than focus on the petitions and the deplorable state of the road, they’re resorting to character assassination.”
The Olomi Olojuoro road project was originally awarded in 2018 with a two-year deadline but has seen slow progress, despite substantial mobilization of the contractor.
Akande-Sadipe said her constituents have been plagued by accidents on the deteriorating road, leading her to sponsor a motion for an investigation.
“My motion urges the House to establish an Ad-Hoc Committee to conduct a comprehensive investigation into why the contractors have failed to fulfill their contractual obligations,” she added.
Akande-Sadipe also refuted allegations of promoting another contractor, Aereatech Nigeria Limited, for the road project. “I have no direct or indirect relationship with Aereatech. This is an orchestrated attempt to deflect attention from the contractor’s own shortcomings,” she said.
The lawmaker revealed that during a 2021 site inspection visit, she discovered that DC Engineering was accused of collecting money from communities to fix feeder road culverts, which had been removed during the rehabilitation work.
“The competence of DC Engineering is questionable,” Akande-Sadipe stated. “They even sub-let parts of the road project to other minor firms, a clear contravention of contractual terms.”
The scandal has escalated tension between lawmakers and contractors, with public opinion squarely focused on accountability, especially at a time when Nigeria is grappling with numerous infrastructure challenges.
As the back-and-forth continues, both the public and other governmental bodies will be closely watching to see how the House of Representatives addresses these serious allegations.
