The Action Group Renewal Organization (AGRO) Nigeria has urged the Federal Government and Ekiti State Government to consider using the Road Infrastructure Development and Refurbishment Investment Tax Credit Scheme to facilitate the reconstruction of the long-neglected Ado-Ijan-Ilumoba-Ikole Road.
The call was made by the initiator of AGRO Nigeria, Comrade Adeyinka Fadumiye, who said the strategic road serves several critical institutions, including Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), the Federal Polytechnic and the Ekiti Agro-Allied International Cargo Airport.
Fadumiye said the deplorable condition of the road had subjected motorists, students, staff, residents and other road users to hardship, urging authorities to move beyond approval and commence actual reconstruction.
He noted that the Federal Government had already approved the reconstruction of the road through the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Project Fund, but stressed the need for urgent implementation, particularly ahead of the resumption of ABUAD students for the 2026/2027 academic session.
“The approval by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the reconstruction of the Ado-Ijan-Ilumoba-Ikole Road is commendable. However, what the people of Ekiti need now is action,” Fadumiye said.
He urged Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji to liaise with the Chairman of the Nigeria Revenue Service (NRS), Zacch Adedeji, and other relevant federal authorities to determine whether the tax-credit scheme could lawfully be deployed to support the project.
According to him, the scheme, established under Presidential Executive Order No. 007 of 2019, provides a framework for private-sector investment in eligible road infrastructure in exchange for tax credits.
Fadumiye argued that the framework could provide an opportunity for Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, founder and Chancellor of ABUAD, to contribute directly to the reconstruction of the road, subject to applicable legal, tax and regulatory requirements.
He recalled reports that ABUAD had previously spent billions of naira repairing and maintaining portions of the road and the old Ureje Bridge as part of its corporate social responsibility.
The AGRO initiator stressed that the Ado-Ijan corridor is more than an access road to a university, describing it as an important economic route serving educational institutions, communities, businesses and the airport.
He also cited previous federal road projects implemented through tax-credit arrangements as evidence that public-private collaboration could help address critical infrastructure deficits.
Fadumiye clarified that his proposal was not for an arbitrary tax waiver, but for government to examine existing legal mechanisms that could allow eligible tax credits or liabilities to be converted into direct investment in the road where permitted by law.
He further recalled that the Ekiti State Government had in February 2026 approved ₦184.86 million in compensation for 318 property owners affected by the expansion and rehabilitation of the Odo-Ado Roundabout-to-Golf Club section along Ijan Road.
Fadumiye called on Governor Oyebanji, the Federal Ministry of Works, the NRS, ABUAD management, community leaders and other stakeholders to work together to establish a clear implementation framework for the reconstruction.He also commended former Senator Babafemi Ojudu for drawing renewed attention to the condition of federal roads in Ekiti State and Aare Afe Babalola for appealing to President Tinubu to intervene.“The people of Ekiti have waited long enough,” Fadumiye said, urging stakeholders to turn renewed advocacy into concrete action on the road.
