Key points at a glance
- The APC presidential rally is holding in Akure today, led by Vice President Kashim Shettima and campaign council Director-General Abdulaziz Yari.
- Federal projects in Ondo include road dualisation, a 71km section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a teaching hospital and a College of Aviation.
- Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa says Ondo has had unprecedented federal presence under President Tinubu.
- The state is building roads, schools, water schemes and health facilities, funded mostly by its share of the Federation Account.
- Critics say many projects are still unfinished. The party says completion is the goal.
Federal projects under Tinubu in Ondo State
Governor Aiyedatiwa has said that Ondo has had an unprecedented federal presence under the Renewed Hope administration, and he has named the main projects. The first is the dualisation of the Ore-Ondo-Akure road, which links Odigbo, Ondo West and Ondo East local government areas and is vital to trade. The road has been the scene of many accidents on its old single lanes, and a group of Ondo stakeholders called for its dualisation as far back as 2023. Reports say contractors have since been mobilised to the site after the Federal Executive Council approved about ₦153 billion for it. The second is the dualisation of the Ilesha-Akure-Owo-Benin expressway, which passes through Owo and Ose local government areas and connects the state to Edo and Osun. Works Minister David Umahi has admitted that funding slowed the work at one point, but he has promised that the contractor must make the road motorable while the project continues.
The third is the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, of which about 71 kilometres pass through Ese-Odo and Ilaje local government areas and open up coastal communities that were hard to reach before. The fourth is the dualisation of the Akure-Ado Ekiti road, including the Akure-Iju section at the Ekiti State border, which Ekiti Governor Biodun Oyebanji has said is already cutting travel time between the two state capitals. The fifth is the Ekiti-Akoko road. Beyond roads, the governor has named the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA) Teaching Hospital, which supporters say will bring specialist care closer to residents and train more doctors, and a new College of Aviation, which is expected to create training and job opportunities for young people. The APC also points to the appointment of Ondo indigenes to federal positions as a sign of inclusion.
Mr Umahi has said the President wants to finish inherited projects and the four legacy projects planned for each zone of the country. Supporters argue that this approach, which concentrates money on fewer projects so they can be completed, is good for Ondo.
What the President’s wider programmes mean for Ondo households
Federal support is not limited to roads. Households in Ondo, like those in other states, are covered by national programmes such as the cash relief scheme that Daily Talk has reported on. Our explainer on the ₦50,000 NERSI relief selection process shows how the Federal Government says beneficiaries are chosen. Supporters say such schemes, together with infrastructure, show a government that is trying to ease daily costs while it builds for the future.
State projects funded from FAAC allocations
Ondo State, like most states, depends heavily on the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC), the monthly sharing of national revenue among the federal, state and local governments. Between January and June 2024 alone, the state was credited with about ₦65.4 billion, while its 18 local governments received about ₦35.3 billion, according to figures reported by Newmail. The APC says this money is being turned into visible works. Some of the state’s spending also comes from internally generated revenue and other sources, so the examples below are not all from FAAC alone.
On roads, the state government has been building the Oke-Aro to Idanre road, the Akungba to Ikare road and the Okitipupa to Igbokoda road, according to the governor’s 2026 budget presentation. It has also approved the dualisation of the Igbokoda to Okitipupa road. The state says its rural roads programme delivered 386 kilometres of upgraded roads across all 18 local government areas. The governor has directed that at least five kilometres of road be built in each local government area before the end of 2026, which is a minimum of 90 kilometres. The state executive council has also approved 101 kilometres of new construction and rehabilitation.
On education, the state says it renovated 134 primary schools at a cost of ₦6.7 billion and rehabilitated 60 secondary schools for ₦3.1 billion. On health, the governor says the state expanded its contributory health scheme, completed a pharma-grade warehouse to secure medicine supplies, renovated hospitals and prioritised recruitment of health workers. On water, the state has rehabilitated schemes in Oke-Igbo, Oba Akoko, Idoani, Okitipupa, Ilutitun and Araromi-Obu, while the Owena Multipurpose Dam and the Owena-Ondo water supply scheme continue to move forward. The government also plans jetties and walkways for riverine communities.
The budget numbers show the scale of the effort. The state’s 2026 budget was first presented at ₦492.8 billion, with 57 percent set aside for capital projects, and it has since been raised to ₦769.4 billion, with extra money for roads, water and healthcare. Infrastructure accounted for ₦131.9 billion of the earlier plan.
The same approach is visible in other APC-run states. Daily Talk reported how Zamfara Governor Dauda Lawal distributed 300 vehicles and 2,000 motorcycles in an empowerment drive, a reminder that state governments use their federal allocations in very different ways, and voters will compare them.
Follow the story
Daily Talk will keep reporting from Akure and across the campaign trail. Read more in our politics section, and see how the APC directed ministers and appointees to attend rallies in their home states to help mobilise voters.
Editorial note: This is an analysis piece that presents the case made by supporters of the APC and the Tinubu administration. It is not neutral reporting. Claims by officials and party-aligned groups are attributed to them and have not all been independently verified. Project timelines and costs may change.
