Ogun State Deputy Governor, Noimot Salako Oyedele, has appealed to the 2027 All Progressives Congress Ogun governorship candidate, Senator Adeola Olamilekan, popularly known as Yayi, to help address the lack of pipe borne water in her indigenous Local Government Area, Ado Odo Ota.

Salako Oyedele made the appeal at a Monday stakeholders meeting during Yayi visit to Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area. She highlighted the area infrastructure and housing needs and urged the senator to intervene in an abandoned Federal Ministry of Water Resources project.

At the meeting, the deputy governor asked residents whether any household in the local government had access to pipe borne water. She said, Correct me if I am wrong, there is no house in Ado Odo Ota Local Government Area that has pipe borne water. Am I right? Does anybody have pipe borne water?

The residents confirmed her claims, underlining the scale of the water shortage in one of Ogun State most populous and industrially active local government areas.

Salako Oyedele said the Federal Ministry of Water Resources project had remained uncompleted despite repeated attempts to secure funding. She said each time officials came, they went to get some institutional funding, and then something happened and it never got done at the federal level. Her remarks pointed to years of frustration over a project that was meant to improve water supply but had failed to deliver results for residents.

She specifically appealed to Yayi to intervene in the rehabilitation of the Iju Water Works. She said, Please help us look at it. Rehabilitation of Iju Water Works and water, so that our children can know that they can turn the tap and water will flow. We appreciate you looking at that for us.

For many residents, the appeal captured a simple but powerful aspiration, that children should grow up knowing clean water can flow from a tap at home.

Beyond water, Salako Oyedele described Ado Odo Ota as a strategic political and economic centre, noting that the local government accounts for approximately 12 per cent of the total votes cast in Ogun State. She stressed that the area population, economic importance and electoral contributions deserved corresponding attention in infrastructure development, education, healthcare and political representation.

Among the priorities she highlighted was the absence of a state owned tertiary institution in the area, alongside the need for improved healthcare facilities, rural development, security infrastructure and a new housing estate.

Yayi, who has been holding stakeholders engagements across Ogun State ahead of the 2027 governorship election, disclosed that he had facilitated 206 projects in Ado Odo Ota. He also announced fresh promises, including the construction of 13 additional roads, an ultra modern market at Oja Ota, transformers and other development interventions. He said Ado Odo Ota, which can rival five local government areas in terms of population, deserved a fair share of development and appointments.

For residents of Ado Odo Ota, the meeting was another opportunity to place their long standing demands before a leading governorship contender. The Olota of Ota, Oba Professor Abdulkabir Adeyemi Obalanlege, and other stakeholders also commended Yayi developmental contributions and presented further demands. Whether the Iju Water Works will finally be rehabilitated will depend on sustained political will and funding, but for now, the deputy governor appeal has put the water crisis firmly on the campaign agenda.