By Mary Agidi
|
Ondo State Government has refuted the claim of the immediate past Commissioner for Transport, Otunba Nicholas Tofowomo, that he initiated the construction of Alape Inland Port in the state.

Tofowomo, who is a Senatorial Candidate in the Southern district of the state under the Platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had gone public with a publication claiming he initiated the project with the promise to complete it if voted for.

Briefing journalists, the Special Adviser to the governor on Transportation, Mr. Tobi Ogunleye who was flanked by the Chairman of OSOPADEC, Mr Gbenga Edema, noted that the port was approved by the Federal Government in 2013 along with nine other inland ports in different states in Nigeria with the condition for each state to construct one kilometer access road to the location, but only Ondo state did not make any effort towards the construction of the port.

He noted that the previous administration in Ondo State  in 2014 only set up a 13-man committee headed by Tofowomo to take action on the project but unfortunately nothing was done by the committee till the expiration of the tenure of the Dr Olusegun Mimiko-led administration against the claim of the then Commissioner.

Ogunleye disclosed that the state governor, Arakurin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, SAN, upon receiving the request letter from the Ministry of Transportation earlier this year about the project, swung into action and instructed OSOPADEC to take up the responsibility of constructing the access road to the Port, as demanded by the Federal government.

“We want to make our position known on the fallacious publication by one of the Senatorial candidates in Ondo state, the former Commissioner for Transportation, Chief Nicholas Tofowomo, who, either intentionally or maliciously decided to drag the name of this government into his electioneering campaign.

“In his publication that is widely publicised in the news and social media, especially on his claim that he initiated the idea of Alape inland Port and that he attracted the attention of the Federal government on the construction of the inland Port, let us put the record straight; all these statements credited to him in his bid to gain sympathy from the electorate and the people of Ondo South Senatorial district, the claim is too pedestrian, it is too spurious, and unguided,” he said.

Ogunleye, however, appealed to Tofowomo to embark on issue-based campaign and in a clear conscience, rather than deceiving the people in order to win their sympathy for votes.

Ogunleye noted that “the project is under survey and OSOPADEC has been saddled with the responsibility of constructing the access road. By the first quarter of next year, construction work will commence.

Corroborating Ogunleye’s position, the OSOPADEC Chairman, Edema described the attitude of Tofowomo as an act of mischieve or ignorance, noting that it is not a crime to canvass for vote but it is unpalatable to include lies.