Oyo govt approves N456.97m for court, police station reconstruction, N121.48m for staff development centre

The Oyo State government has approved the sum of N456.97 million for the reconstruction of the magistrate court and police station around the Olomi correctional facility, in Ibadan.

The government said the decision is in keying into the plan by the federal government to relocate the correctional facility at Agodi to the Olomi area of Ibadan.

State commissioner for Public Works and Transport, Professor Dahud Sangodoyin who made this known while briefing journalists after the state executive council meeting held on Tuesday, explained that the state government decided to construct the magistrate court around the Olomi Correctional Centre to ease justice delivery in the State.

A six months duration is set for the construction works.

Sangodoyin said: “The Council considered the reconstruction of the Magistrate Court and Police Station at Olomi Correctional Centre in Ibadan. Recall that the Federal Government had proposed to relocate Agodi to Olomi. And for our state to key into the security architecture and strengthen the judicial system, we considered the move. This will ease justice delivery in Oyo State.

“So, today, we approved the reconstruction of the magistrate court and police station at the cost of N456,979,164,28k to Messrs Dunton Ltd. It will go for a duration of six months through APFA.

“We have a two-month moratorium after which we will pay the contractor for a year, beginning from February 2023 to January 2024.”

Also addressing journalists, state Commissioner for Establishment and Training, Mr Siju Lawal said the council also approved the renovation of the Simeon Adebo Staff Development Centre for N121.48 million.

Lawal said the council approved the renovation of the centre because it had been abandoned and neglected for years

A 12-week timeline is set for the completion of the renovation works.

Lawal said, “Today, we unanimously approved the general renovation of Simeon Adebo Staff Development Centre, which is a formal training school in the old Western state. It has been abandoned and neglected for many years but the renovation was approved.

“After the renovation, we believe it will compete favourably well with its counterparts in the whole of the federation.

“The project will cost a sum of N121, 48,978,83k and was awarded to All-time Nigeria Ltd with a duration of 12 weeks. Thirty per cent payment has also been approved to fast-track the completion of the project.”

On his own part, Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Dr. Wasiu Olatunbosun said the council had approved the promotion of 1,629 workers who were denied their promotion due to what he called systematic error.

Olatunbosun said: “The other one is the issue of promotion of workers. We observed that some officers who are supposed to be promoted were denied due to systematic error. “We discovered that 1,629 were affected by this error. As a result, they were not considered for promotion, which falls within 2017 and 2020.

“So, the Council graciously approved that the officers involved be allowed to get their promotions unhindered.”

ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE