Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has accused his Ekiti counterpart, Kayode Fayemi, of the bad roads across the Ekiti State.
Wike, who advised Fayemi to fix the linking road from Ado Ekiti- Ikere –Akure highway for their citizens.
Wike said this on Thursday while Fayemi performed the flag-off of the new Magistrate Court Complex in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
Newsflash Nigeria had earlier reported that the travellers were stranded along the Ado-Ikere-Akure road on account of the bad stretch of the roads.
Also, Ado-Ilawe-Igbara-Oke and Igede-Aramoko-Efon roads didn’t fare better, as commuters were also stranded on the roads due to the number of trucks plying it, in addition to the poor state of roads, which worsened commuters’ experience.
Other worst roads that have been highlighted by Ekiti people include the Ado Ekiti-Ikare road, Ado-Aramoko-Itawure road, Ado-Ifaki–Ido Ekiti road, Ikere- Ise road, Ikere- Igbara Odo road and Ifaki–Oye Ekiti–Ikole–Omuo road.
Others are Omuo–Kabba road stretching to some local council areas in Kogi, Omuo-Oke road and Agbe–Ikare road which has been abandoned for years.
Newsflash Nigeria gathered that travelling within or through Ekiti State on the Federal Government roads has continued to become a difficult task for the motorists and travellers following the level of the deplorable condition of many of the roads.
As a matter of fact, travelling on the affected roads, which ordinarily should not be more than one hour within the state is, now taking at least two or three hours for the travellers to reach their various destinations. This has been a great challenge for the stakeholders, especially the road users. As it is now, there seems to be no clear difference between the rural area roads and some major roads in the Ekiti State, particularly during the rainy season.
Unfortunately, the bad condition of the roads has been aiding criminal activities as the bandits now utilise the expressways as a trap to kidnap the helpless travellers.
In the viral video seen by Newsflash Nigeria, Governor Wike accused Governor Fayemi of neglecting Ekiti-Akure road during Fayemi visited him in Port Harcourt for performing the flag-off of the new Magistrate Court Complex.
Wike said “There’s no road from Ekiti to Akure”
“Mr JKF (Kayode Fayemi), What’s the essence of what you are doing from Ekiti to Akure… No road”, Gov Wike said.
Fayemi responds “Don’t worry about that one, you only here talking because “We are democrats”.
Performing the flag-off, Fayemi commended Wike for the transformational work, not just in the judiciary alone, but also in every sector in the state.
Fayemi observed that what is happening to the magistracy in Rivers State and the ongoing construction of the campus of Nigerian Law School in Port Harcourt are also worthy of commendation.
According to him, though he is not a lawyer, he is educated enough to know the importance of this arm of government, particularly the importance of the magistracy to the administration of justice in the country.
“From the statistics I’ve seen, 70 per cent of matters relating to criminal justice administration are handled at the magistracy. And that contributes immensely to addressing our long-standing problem of awaiting trial detainees in our prisons.
He said: “So, if we provide a conducive environment for our magistrates to function, it goes without saying they would deliver their responsibilities a lot more swiftly, and also cover a lot more grounds to address that challenge.”
Governor Fayemi said issues raised about the judiciary by Governor Wike are serious and said the federating states in the country aspire to have a truly independent judiciary.
“What we look forward to as states is that time that we would also have state courts that are not just autonomous but that are wholly driven from the state, not ones driven from the national judicial council, that is the vision of state and that is what we look forward to.”
The Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, said the construction of the magistrate courts complex has come at an auspicious time most desired.
According to him, it will decongest the State High Court complex, where the magistrate court is currently being housed.
The Rivers State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof. Zacchaeus Adangor, said the stability, peace and order of any society depend largely on the administration of justice.
