Umahi Orders Emergency Repairs On Benin-Agbor-Asaba Road

Minister of Works, Engr. David Nweze Umahi, has directed the immediate deployment of major contractors to three sections of the Benin-Asaba Highway to restore the failed portions and end the suffering of motorists and other road users. This is despite the concessionaire’s objection to the federal government’s intervention on the failed sections of the road.

Umahi, in a statement by his senior special assistant on Media, Francis Nweze, said the decision became imperative because the situation on the concessioned road had reached a point where the overall public interest must take precedence over the existing concession agreement. He recalled that the minister was on the road about seven days ago, where he assembled a number of contractors and directed them to prepare for immediate palliative intervention on the affected sections of the highway at no cost to the concessionaire.

“In line with the concession agreement, which requires that before the federal government could intervene, the permission of the concessionaire must be required, and that consent was not granted to the federal government,” he said.

The statement explained that the Minister subsequently proposed three options to the concessionaire, any one of which would have enabled the Federal Government to move in and address the worsening condition of the road.

“Unfortunately, none of the options was accepted by the concessionaire,” he added.

He revealed that immediately after the Minister left Asaba, the already limited equipment deployed to the road by the concessionaire was further reduced to just one, worsening the situation and increasing the suffering of motorists and other road users.

“While the Minister takes responsibility for the concerns and suffering of Nigerians using the road, it is important to state that the concessionaire has also not taken the suffering of Edo people and the travelling public sufficiently into consideration by declining all the options put forward by the Federal Government. “The concessionaire continues to rely on the terms of the concession agreement entered into by the previous administration, an agreement which weighs heavily against the Federal Government’s ability to intervene quickly in the interest of the public in a situation like this.

“In view of this situation, the Minister of Works has directed the immediate deployment of major contractors within the corridor to all three sections of the Benin-Asaba Road to restore the failed sections and bring relief to the people, with the cost of the emergency intervention being borne by the Federal Government.”

Furthermore, the Minister directed the immediate redesign and reconstruction of the entire route with a reinforced concrete pavement.

“The public should therefore take note that immediate action is underway to restore every failed section of the Benin-Asaba Road and subsequently rehabilitate the entire sections of the road using reinforced concrete pavement.”