Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde has justified the award of 110-kilometre Ibadan Circular Road at the cost of N138.2bn as a better bargain for the people of Oyo State than the 32km contract awarded by his predecessor, the late Senator Abiola Ajimobi, at the cost of N70bn.

In a statement, yesterday, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, said at the cost of N138.2 billion for the entire 110 kilometres road, over N80 billion had been saved by the incumbent.

He said those creating controversies around the recent award of the contract are doing so purely for mischief. The statement reads: “Going by simple logic, the 110kms, broken down into three, would be, at least, 34kms each. Therefore, the past administration that awarded just 32kms for N70 billion would as well have awarded the entire 110kms for more than N210 billion, besides the inflationary trends of today.” The incumbent urged the public to discountenance half-baked and uninformed criticisms over the award of the contract to SEL-Vydra, a consortium, saying, “Uninformed sources and opposition elements had been criticising the contract award that SEL-Vydra was registered less than two months ago. Efforts to portray the process as flawed were based on ignorance and lack of information on processes for awarding contracts to consortia.

“ The choices before the people of Oyo State are clear. It is between the award of a 32-kilometre first phase of the Circular Road for N70 Billion to an old company that did 3kms in three years and the award of the entire road spanning 110 kilometres for N138.2 billion, using a Special Purpose Vehicle and a promised delivery of the first phase before the end of the tenure of the administration in 2023.

“Second, the controversies being raised about the length of time SEL-Vydra was registered before it got the Circular Road project should not have arisen if the people spreading the misinformation had bothered to seek information.

“SEL-Vydra is a consortium of companies coming together for the purpose of the concession. It is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) that involves the coming together of different companies already registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission. So, the registration of the SPV should not be a source of any controversy.”