Sagamu residents have erupted in anger after Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, ordered the stoppage of an ongoing federal road project approved under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
The Paddy-Arikawe Oye Igbimo Road reconstruction, awarded by the Presidency to Minim and Tonye Nigeria Limited and facilitated by Senator Otunba Gbenga Daniel, was abruptly halted by the Ogun State Ministry of Works and Infrastructure.
In a letter signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Engr. Dr. Yusuf L.O., and obtained by our reporter, the contractor was directed to suspend operations immediately on the grounds that “necessary permit/clearance was not obtained from the State Government before commencement.”
The letter further argued that the Presidency’s action “negates the normal due process which ought to be followed before commencing work on a State Government road.”
The decision has sparked outrage in Sagamu, where residents accused the Abiodun – led state government of “pettiness and insensitivity.”
One resident who spoke anonymously said, “There are thousands of roads in the state begging for repairs and constructions, and this Ogun State Government is stopping the federal government from helping us out. This is the height of insensitivity. This governor has no empathy for the people.”
Another source close to the project revealed that the road was facilitated by Senator Daniel through the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA), with President Tinubu’s approval.
“The BCDA mobilised and started work on Wednesday. The speed with which they were stopped is shocking. This is not Daniel’s private project but a federal intervention. Instead of encouraging it, the governor is blocking it,” the source lamented. 
Already, political analysts believe the move could reignite tensions between President Tinubu and Governor Abiodun. The analysts recalled that during the 2023 APC presidential primaries, Abiodun openly backed former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo against Tinubu, a decision that said, almost became a lingering rift within the party.
Although no link has been established between that political rivalry and the halted road project, residents say the timing and manner of the stoppage “reeks of political undertones.”
Years of Neglect
The controversy is particularly sensitive in Sagamu, where residents claim state governments have abandoned key roads for decades. Since Otunba Gbenga Daniel left office in 2011, major roads in Sagamu GRA — including the busy Paddy-Arikawe stretch — have reportedly seen no meaningful maintenance or reconstruction.
“This is not the first time. Even Aiyepe Road suffered the same fate. Anytime Senator Daniel facilitates a project, Governor Abiodun finds a way to frustrate it,” a source alleged.
While the State Government insists on due process, residents argue that what matters most is urgent development. 
It was learnt that this is not the first project he has interested with. The Sagamu Aiyepe road already has a budgetary approval, signed into Law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
However, no sooner had the Contractors been mobilised to site than the Ogun State government moved in, the same thing happened with the Gateway Hotel and road in Ijebu Ode when the FG contractor was chased out of location, his signboard removed.
Strangely, the Ogun State government rolled out caterpillar as if they wanted to do the road but when the FG contractor left, the state government also left the road abandoned and unattended.
Residents said this translates to denying the people of Ogun East Senatorial District the benefits of FG Interventions, describing it a saddening situation.
“If the State government continues like this, they are just deliberately sabotaging the efforts of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu towards impacting the lives of the people positively. It is a sabotage of the Federal government efforts and an attempt to portray the president in bad light before the People,” one of the residents said.
As 2027 draws closer, many say the governor’s action may prove costly at the polls, especially in Ogun East, where frustration over bad roads is already a major campaign issue.
But clarifying on Paddy-Arikawe Oye, Igbimo road project, state government described as egregious falsehood, the news report that it stopped an ongoing federal road along Paddy-Arikawe Oye Igbimo Road to settle political scores with the facilitator of the project.
In a statement signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Strategy to Governor Dapo Abiodun, Hon Kayode Akinmade, the Ogun State government clarified that the contractor, Minim and Tonye Nigeria Limited, was only asked to follow due process and apply for permission from the government, because the road in question is a state road.
According to the statement, having discovered a contractor working on the road, which was earlier scheduled for repairs by Governor Abiodun, the state government asked the contractor to apply for permission stating the scope of work expected to be done, which would enable the state government to take the road off its schedule.
It challenged anybody to show anything legally wrong with the letter signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Engr. Dr. Yusuf L.O., directing the contractor to suspend operations because necessary permit/clearance was not obtained from the State Government before commencement.
According to the statement, no one can carry out any repair work on a road without obtaining the necessary permission, which is why a state government intent on repairing any federal road must first obtain the Federal Government’s permission.
The statement said: “Nigerians will recall that for a long time, the Ogun State Government could not carry out any repair works on federal roads like the Abeokuta-Sango Ota road because the then Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, SAN, refused to give the state permission. In their utter ignorance, the authors of the fake news claimed that the Federal Government had approved the construction of a road belonging to Ogun State.
“If not for outright mischief carried out on behalf of their drowning principal, how can anyone equate asking a contractor to obtain necessary approval before working on a state road to stopping the project because of alleged political hostility? How do you work on a state road, indeed any road, without obtaining the necessary approval?”
The statement asked Nigerians to note that in a letter dated February 1, 2025, a former federal lawmaker, Hon Adewunmi Onanuga, sought permission to start construction work on four rural roads, namely Sokanmade Road, Ewuga; Oko and Ada Road, Simawa; Itamaro to Ilara road; Alhaja Ogunsanya Street, Irolu, among other projects.
This, the statement said, is the normal route to take.
