The Allied Peoples Movement (APM), Osun State chapter, has declared that the continued closure of the Oke-Fia Bridge without any traffic disruption has stripped the project naked as an expensive mistake and a grand waste of public funds.
In a statement issued on Saturday by its governorship candidate, Hon. Adewale Adebayo, APM reminded Osun people that it had warned as far back as 2023 that Governor Ademola Adeleke’s administration was embarking on a spree of needless projects under the so-called N100 billion and later N150 billion infrastructure plans.
The N100 billion plan is yet to record 15 per cent success after which Governor Adeleke launched the N150 billion plan, which we only see its massive impact in Ede, hometown of the governor, with over 80 kilometer road construction.
It is so unfortunate thatthe Oke-Fia bridge, which gulped N10.7bn, has not been put to use since over 4 month of the completion, and nobody feels the impact of its closure.
Despite the bridge being shut for months, daily vehicular and pedestrian movement within the Osogbo metropolis has continued seamlessly, with alternative routes effectively absorbing traffic flow.
APM described it as scandalous that the N10.7 billion Oke-Fia Bridge, completed over four months ago, remains shut, yet life in Osogbo goes on normally.
“Vehicles and pedestrians are moving freely. No gridlock. No chaos. No hardship. This simply means the bridge was never solving any real problem in the first place,” the party noted.
According to APM, this raises fundamental questions about the planning, necessity and value-for-money of the project, which was loudly marketed as a major traffic solution.
“The truth on ground is embarrassing. Shutting the bridge has not affected movement in Osogbo in any way. This exposes it as a cosmetic project, one designed more for political jamboree than for real public need.”
APM went further to accuse the Adeleke administration of using such projects as conduit pipes to ship out public funds, rather than as tools for development.
We therefore demand that the Adeleke government immediately publish the full list of projects executed under both the N100 billion and N150 billion plans, including contractors’ names and exact contract sums.”
APM also warned that Osun people would not be fooled by inducements or propaganda ahead of the next election.
“We want it on record: APM and the people of Osun will resist every attempt to use state resources to buy a second term. Osun is not a cash cow. Osun deserves real development, not decorative bridges.”
