The Federal Government has attributed the deteriorating condition of the Benin-Asaba Expressway to the concessionaire managing the road and is considering a review of the concession agreement.
Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, disclosed this during an on-the-spot assessment of the highway in Benin, according to the News Agency of Nigeria on Tuesday.
Umahi said the government would invoke the overriding public interest provision to intervene in the project, engage competent contractors to rehabilitate the highway and ease the hardship experienced by motorists and other road users.
He expressed dissatisfaction with the management of the highway by the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company, accusing the concessionaire of lacking the technical capacity required to effectively execute the project.
He criticised the concessionaire for removing existing asphalt before putting the necessary drainage infrastructure in place, noting that the Federal Government had previously cautioned the company against taking such action.
“The Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, says the Federal Government is considering a review of the concession agreement for the Benin-Asaba Expressway following widespread complaints over deteriorating condition of the highway,” the NAN report read in part.
“You don’t know what you are doing. You have no technical staff or competence. The President has directed us to do whatever is possible to fix this road,” Umahi was quoted as telling the concessionaire.
Umahi described the removal of the asphalt as an act of destruction of public property and directed the ministry’s controllers to arrest any contractor or concessionaire found removing asphalt from existing roads without approval.
He also apologised to Nigerians for the hardship caused by the deteriorating condition of the highway.
Umahi said the government would invoke the overriding public interest provision to intervene in the project, stressing that Nigerians should not continue to suffer because of shortcomings in the concession arrangement.
He said competent contractors would be engaged to rehabilitate the highway, while China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation would intervene in some of the badly affected sections around Asaba.
The Chief Executive Officer of BAECC, Samuel Daramola, attributed the slow pace of work partly to heavy rainfall and traffic along the route.
Meanwhile, the project consultant’s representative, Toyin Akinlapa, said BAECC had been advised to construct drainage infrastructure before removing the existing asphalt but failed to heed the advice.
The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Works, Akin Alabi, also called on President Bola Tinubu to review the concession agreement and similar arrangements involving major road projects.
The highway has come under widespread criticism over its deteriorating condition, with motorists reportedly stranded for several days due to multiple failed sections.
Government plans other road reconstruction
Umahi also disclosed that the Federal Government was considering the redesign and reconstruction of the road from Kogi to Warri, as well as other major roads in Edo State, using concrete pavement.
He said the affected roads required comprehensive reconstruction rather than continued reliance on palliative measures.
