The State Project Coordinator of the Ekiti State Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), Mr Sunday Adunmo, has attributed the deplorable state of federal roads in Ekiti State to the failure to provide timely and comprehensive interventions on the roads.

Adunmo said a total of 132km of rural roads are currently being constructed, and some of them will be commissioned before the year ends, while 80km of spot improvement and 45km of backlog maintenance will soon be awarded.

Speaking on Wednesday in Ado Ekiti, the State Project Coordinator said the state government had in 2012 agitated for the complete reconstruction of those roads, particularly Ado-Aramoko-Itawure road, which was originally designed for vehicles not exceeding 20-tonne capacity, but now plied by articulated vehicles with over 60-tonne capacity.

Adunmo stated that the roads would have been salvaged if the federal government had undertaken reconstruction in tandem with current realities instead of casual repair works that were done in the past by the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

He said the state government is incapable of taking over the construction of the road, as the federal government has warned that it will not reimburse states that carry out construction work on federal roads.

Adumo said the state government consequently decided to embark on the construction of alternative routes pending the construction of the federal roads by the federal government.

On the Ado-Ijan-Ikare road, Adunmo pleaded with Ekiti people to be patient, as the state government is already in talks with the contractor handling the road regarding the possibility of fixing the Ado axis of the road to ease the discomfort that commuters face while plying the road.

The Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) warned those who have politicised the state of federal roads in the state to desist from the ‘pull-him-down syndrome,’ noting that Oyebanji has performed well and should be supported to continue the good work.

Reacting to claims that RAAMP roads do not exist in Ekiti State, the Project Coordinator said work is ongoing on all 18 RAAMP project sites in the State, even as one of the roads is almost completed, while 2.6km of asphalt has been laid on another road.