News
MURIC begs Tinubu to repair Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway
The Muslim Rights Concern on Monday, sent a Save Our Soul message to President Bola Tinubu over the deplorable condition of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.
The Lagos and Ogun Chairmen of the group, Dr Busari Ademola and Alhaji Jimoh Alao, in a statement, said that the 81km federal highway has continued to be a death trap.
“We are calling on the Federal Government to revisit the construction of the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway.
“The road which was first constructed more than 40 years ago by the Muritala-Obasanjo regime linking over 200 communities has made life unbearable for thousands of road users.
“The condition of the expressway is embarrassing, and with the return to democracy since 1999, the citizens of our dear States keep wondering if the route is attracting enough government attention.
“The contract for the reconstruction of the road was re-awarded in 2018 to some construction companies but to date, no significant progress could be seen,” they said.
The chairmen, in the statement, said that the road experience along the Ijaiye-Alakuko axis of Lagos via tollgate, Sango, Ifo, Itori, Papalanto and Obada near Abeokuta, was brutal and painful with so many deep holes.
“Therefore, we call on President Tinubu and relevant authorities and agencies to expedite action in constructing a viable, motorable and secure expressway to save the lives of Nigerians.
“We equally sympathise with thousands of Nigerians who are regular users of the road despite its unbearable state of dilapidation.
“We urge them to be hopeful, the relief is inevitable as the governments of Lagos and Ogun will find a lasting solution to the deplorable condition of the expressway without further political bureaucracy,” the statement said.
NAN reports that the Federal Government on August 31, proposed to jointly rehabilitate the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta expressway with the Ogun State government.
The proposal was made by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, during a courtesy call on Governor Dapo Abiodun in his office at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
The minister was on a tour of federal roads in the State, along with officials of the ministry.
Umahi, while responding to Governor Abiodun on the frustration experienced by Ogun and Lagos States during the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to get the road done, disclosed that the period of bureaucracy in road construction in the country was over.
Umahi noted that if the Federal Government is looking for corporate organisations to get involved in road construction and management, state governments should not be denied the same opportunity.
He said, “Let me say something about the frustration you had while you and the Lagos State government wrote to take over the reconstruction of the Lagos-Ota-Abeokuta road. Let me announce to you that it falls under our new programme, the High Way Development Management Initiative. It is a public-private partnership programme.
“People should begin to look at a state as a corporate entity. If you are looking for investors to come and invest on our roads; to construct, to own, to maintain and toll, why shouldn’t a state do that?” the minister said.
NAN
News
Akran of Badagry is dead, aged 89
The demise of the monarch marks the end of his 48-year reign on the throne, making him one of the longest-serving traditional rulers in Lagos State.
Photo: Akran of Badagry, De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi
The traditional ruler of the Badagry local government area in Lagos State, the Akran of Badagry, De Wheno Aholu Menu-Toyi, is dead, aged 89.
The demise of the monarch marks the end of his 48-year reign on the throne, making him one of the longest-serving traditional rulers in Lagos State.
According to the palace, the Akran was pronounced dead by medical experts, after a brief illness, and the traditional rites for his burial have gradually commenced.
Residents of Badagry, who are currently mourning the loss of their revered monarch, described his death as a heavy blow, noting that the town has lost not just a king but a father figure whose wisdom, counsel and presence brought reassurance in moments of uncertainty.
News
Osun sues UBA, officials to court over illegal LG accounts
They were specifically accused of allowing the opening, operation and maintenance of accounts for each of the local government councils “by unknown private individuals as signatories…
• Map of Osun State
The Osun State Government has instituted a criminal case against United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) and four of its top officials over alleged illegal opening of local government accounts.
Tribune newspaper reported that the Chief Magistrate Court, sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, has fixed January 30 for the hearing of the case, marked Charge No: MOS/601c/2025.
The defendants in the suit are: the UBA Plc, its Group Managing Director, Mr Oliver Alawuba, the Company Secretary and Group Legal Adviser, Mr Billy Odum and the Deputy Managing Director, Mr Chukwuma Nweke.
In the charge sheet, the government filed the 31-count charge against the bank and its officials, with each count relating to alleged infractions involving opening of bank accounts for the state’s 30 local government councils.
In count one, the prosecution alleged that the defendants, on or about December 9, 2025, and on subsequent days, at UBA’S Osun State branch office located in the Olonkoro area of Osogbo, conspired to commit a felony by opening, operating and maintaining what it described as illegal Osun State Local Government Council accounts.
The alleged offence, the charge stated, occurred within the Osogbo Magisterial District and is said to be contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 34, Volume 2, Laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2002.
They were specifically accused of allowing the opening, operation and maintenance of accounts for each of the local government councils “by unknown private individuals as signatories” after the Local Government Service Commission had introduced to the defendants, Directors of Administration and General Services and Directors of Finance of all the local governments as signatories to the councils’ statutory accounts “and thereby committed an offence contrary to Sections 2 and 3 (1) and (2), and punishable under Section 5(1) and (2) of Osun State Local Government Accounts Administration Law, 2025.”
News
Umahi: We’re not tolling Third Mainland Bridge
Umahi affirmed this during inauguration of the N40 billion Closed Circuit Television Camera Centre on the Third Mainland Bridge, the previous day.
• Third Mainland Bridge
The Minister of Works Senator Dave Umahi has confirmed that the Federal Government has no plan to toll the rehabilitated Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.
Umahi affirmed this during inauguration of the N40 billion Closed Circuit Television Camera Centre on the Third Mainland Bridge, the previous day.
He said : “We will not engage construction on this bridge because it will entail static load on the bridge.
“It is also within the town, so it will introduce many bottlenecks; that is why we are not tolling this bridge,” he said.
Umahi said that security would be handled by the police, noting that the 11-kilometre bridge would have a five-minute response time.
Akran of Badagry is dead, aged 89
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