Kwara State government has expressed its disappointment on the failed portion of Geri-Alimi bridge underpass in Ilorin constructed three years ago by the administration of the immediate past governor of the state, Abdulfattah Ahmed, saying it “fails test of time”.

The bridge tagged Geri-Alimi Diamond Underpass which was commissioned in May 2019 by ex-governor Ahmed became an eyesore as a portion of the underpass has failed.

The government said that the project which was executed at a cost of N3.7billion funded with taxpayers’ money was alleged to have been poorly executed by the past administration.

Deputy Governor, Mr Kayode Alabi, who visited the underpass had lamented the shoddy work done by the contractor, with the government forcing him back to site.

“The project was poorly executed as some major cracks were spotted on the underpass in 2019 just months after its inauguration,” he said.

Three years after, the poorly constructed underpass has become an eyesore as damages could be spotted on it while residents criticised the development.

According to them, it’s unbelievable that with the multi-million naira said to be sunk into the project, it couldn’t stand the test of time and integrity.

However, Kwara State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party in a reaction said that the project which was executed according to plan has been badly maintained by the present APC government which failed to honour the maintenance contract handed over to it after the commissioning of the project.

PDP in a reaction signed by its State Publicity Secretary, Tunji Morohunfoye, said that its attention had been drawn to a publication about the damaged portion of a side exit on the nationally acclimated Geri-Alimi Diamond split and Underpass attributing the cause to poor maintenance and non-execution of the second phase of the road project.

The PDP said, “the fact of the matter is as follows;

“Geri-Alimi Diamond Split and Underpass was completed in April 2019. The Project was constructed by Duravil Construction Ltd.

“The project has two bridges and a roundabout, with an underground stormy water drain of 900 metres, a security post, control room, Closed Circuit Television monitors, cameras for security and surveillance with a standby electricity generator and a dedicated transformer. Solar street lights were also installed as lighting backup, making the project first of its kind in Nigeria ahead of the Underpass in Maryland, Lagos State (which has only one headbridge) and the Kano underpass, as attested to by Senator Kabiru Gaya, who represents Kano South Senatorial district since 2007 at the Nigerian Senate.

“The maintenance contract for the landmark project was awarded to the same company, Duravil construction company at a sum of N1.5 million monthly from May 2019 to May, 2021 (for the first phase) or N18 million annually, involving maintenance of stormy underground drainage to forestall silting or blockages and its attendant damage to the the underpass exit and entrance roads, the maintenance of security equipment in the control room, carrying out surveillance work, maintenance of the solar powered street lights, the transformer and the lawns within the roundabout.

The maintenance contract also included fuelling of generator (We all know the cost of diesel fuel today) and provision of 24/7 security, all this services were awarded at the prudent contract sum of N1.5 million monthly.

“Unfortunately, the maintenance contract was abruptly terminated by the ‘mediocre’ APC party regime led by Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq in June, 2019 for no apparent reason due to the inexperience of the incompetent regime about the maintenance of critical and important infrastructure. The abrupt termination of the maintenance contract is not unrelated to the reputed crass vindictiveness of the chief executive officer.

“The termination of the maintenance contract resulted in the vandalisatation of control room, CCTV, electricity generator, and solar powered street lights. This also brought about the unkempt bushy roundabout lawn, blockages of stormy underground drainage of the underpass and consequently the latest spill over damages to the underpass exit roads.

“The public should ask the inept APC party regime led by Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq, why they stopped the 2nd phase of the project from Geri-Alimi to General hospital Roundabout, which was designed to evacuate the water from the stormy underground drainage to a surface drain which would have emptied into the Odo-Okun stream. The stoppage of work at the 2nd phase due to refusal of the current vindictive APC party regime to release funds of N145milion to settle the payment of the contractor’s 2nd certificate on the project after the contractor was about to complete the drainage works. The abandonment of the project, resulted in the stormy underground drainage getting silted, which caused the depressed underpass underground soil and this subsequently resulted in the exit road damage, being touted all over the internet, by the inept Kwara APC.

“Clearly, the 2nd phase of the laudable project must resume now, to give access to the stormy underground water in the underpass to the Odo-Okun stream. Engineering experts need to tutor the inept, incompetent and bumbling Kwara APC party regime on the importance of the 2nd phase of the laudable project and the nexus between the 1st and 2nd phase of the landmark project.

“Presently, the control centre, electricity generator, street lights, CCTV cameras, and the iron bars rails guarding the roundabout lawns have all been vandalised and stolen due to lack of security and the stoppage of the maintenance contract without providing a viable alternative. This despicable actions were all carried out vindictively, to discredit the past administrations and put hardship on the lives of kwarans.

Apparently, we see that similar legacy projects by the two preceding administrations of the dynamic duo of, Dr Abubakar ‘Bukola Saraki (CON) and Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, have been abandoned to atrophy, such as the metropolitan Square (which was hurriedly renovated a few weeks ago, to serve as the venue for the APC presidential campaign), the Deputy Governor’s office which is currently a monumental eyesore, the Sango-Oke-Ose Dualisation Road work, the Arobadi-Maigida road, the Salahudeen Baki Road in the Government Reserved Area, the Governor’s lodge, Harmony Advanced Diagnostic center, etc.

“All the above functional landmark projects were abandoned by the childishly vindictive Kwara APC party regime led by Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq for the simple reason that, the projects were embarked upon by the preceding past administrations, as if the projects were not carried out using Kwara state’s collective patrimony,” the PDP said.

Meanwhile, Kwara State government has closed the portion of the road and mobilized contractors to fix the failed portion of the road.