The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has directed the concessionaire handling the Benin-Asaba Expressway to leave the project site, citing poor performance and the deteriorating condition of the road.
Umahi gave the directive on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ meeting at the Edo State Government House in Benin, where he also ordered the immediate removal of obstructions affecting traffic flow along the highway.
The minister urged the Benin Asaba Expressway Concession Company to formally write to the Federal Government through the Ministry of Works to facilitate the termination of its contract.
“We are therefore pleading with you to give us written approval to proceed in this manner. We believe this is the way forward,” Umahi said.
He added that the concessionaire should be removed from the project site within the limits of the government’s contractual rights, alleging that it had failed to add value to the project.
Umahi further directed the Federal Ministry of Works to ask the project’s independent engineer to assess and measure all work already carried out, excluding what he described as “negative work.”
According to him, the removal of asphalt contrary to contractual specifications would not be recognised as work completed, while the cost of repairing the resulting damage would also be determined.
“We do not believe that you currently have the capacity to reinstate the road,” the minister said, warning that continued poor work could worsen the hardship faced by road users and potentially lead to public disorder.
He directed that damaged sections of the highway be reconstructed under the supervision of the independent engineer. He also ordered the concessionaire to submit a technical design for proper stormwater drainage and ensure that water currently being channelled onto the road is redirected.
The minister further demanded the restoration of damaged asphalt and the immediate restoration of free movement of vehicles along the affected sections.
Responding, the Head of Legal and Compliance of BAECC, Peterson Fabian, appealed to the government and other stakeholders to allow the company more time to explore possible solutions.
Fabian said the discussions at the meeting were not yet conclusive and called for further engagement among the parties involved.
“I believe that everything that is being discussed here is not conclusive in itself. We will have a more robust collaborative way of handling things going forward,” he said.
Also speaking, Senator Allwell Onyesoh, a member of the Senate Committee on Works, described the condition of the road as terrible, saying commuters had been subjected to significant hardship.
“The concessionaires and whoever pushed for this concession did not mean well for Nigeria,” Onyesoh said, adding that the situation demonstrated that not every company had the capacity to manage a project of such magnitude.
The Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, also expressed disappointment with the condition of the road, particularly after 16 months of work.
“Looking at the project at hand, looking at the road itself and the suffering of the people, I felt sorry for those plying the road, especially Edo people,” Okpebholo said.
He described the situation as a waste of resources and urged the minister to take decisive action to resolve the problems on the major highway.
“You can’t give what you don’t have. If they are competent, by now we should have seen some part of this road completed,” the governor said.
Okpebholo appealed for urgent intervention, stressing that the Benin-Asaba road was a major route and that the condition of the highway had become a serious concern for residents and other road users.
