The Federal Government has commenced moves to terminate the concession agreement for the Benin-Asaba road, citing the concessionaire’s failure to deliver the project and the worsening condition of the highway.
Minister of Works, David Umahi, made this known on Wednesday in Benin during a stakeholders’ meeting at the Edo State Government House, where he directed the concessionaire to formally write the Federal Government through his ministry to facilitate the termination process.
Umahi also ordered the company handling the project to immediately remove all obstructions on the highway and restore free movement of vehicles.
The minister said the concessionaire should be taken off the project site within the limits of the government’s contractual rights, insisting that its performance had not justified its continued involvement.
“We are therefore pleading with you to give us written approval to proceed in this manner; we believe this is the way forward. Therefore, our directive going forward is that you should be removed from the site of this project, within the limits of our rights. You have added no value to the project,” he said.
He directed the Federal Ministry of Works to instruct the independent engineer overseeing the project to assess and measure all work carried out on the road.
Umahi said the assessment must exclude what he described as “negative work”, particularly activities that had damaged rather than improved the road.
“When you remove asphalt contrary to the contract and contrary to the specifications, that is negative work. It will not be recognised as part of the value of work done. In fact, the cost of rectifying the damage must also be established,” he said.
The minister said the Federal Government was not convinced that the concessionaire had the capacity to restore the road to an acceptable standard.
He warned that the continued deterioration of the highway could worsen the hardship being experienced by commuters and create security and public-order concerns.
“We do not believe that you currently have the capacity to reinstate the road. We have not stopped you from working, but if you continue doing what you are currently doing, we are not convinced that you will be able to avert the potential for public disorder in that area,” Umahi said.
He subsequently directed that the severely affected portions of the highway be reconstructed under the supervision of the independent engineer.
The minister also instructed the concessionaire to produce a technical design for effective stormwater drainage, stressing that poor water management was contributing to the deterioration of the carriageway.
He ordered the company to restore all damaged asphalt, redirect water currently flowing onto the road and ensure the free movement of traffic.
However, the Head of Legal and Compliance of the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company, Peterson Fabian, appealed to the government to give the concessionaire additional time to engage with the relevant authorities and explore possible solutions.
Fabian said the discussions at the meeting were not necessarily final and expressed hope that a collaborative solution could still be reached.
“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. Every stakeholder here, do allow us to have more time to engage,” he said.
The poor state of the road attracted further criticism from lawmakers and the Edo State Government.
Senator Allwell Onyesoh, a member of the Senate Committee on Works, described the condition of the Benin-Asaba road as terrible, saying the experience of commuters demonstrated the urgent need for intervention.
He questioned the competence of those involved in the concession and said the situation offered a lesson on the need to properly assess the capacity of private companies before awarding major infrastructure projects to them.
“The concessionaires and whoever pushed for this concession did not mean well for Nigeria, and this is a big lesson about concessionaires in Nigeria. We can see that it is not everybody that has the capacity to handle such a big project,” Onyesoh said.
Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, also expressed disappointment over the condition of the road, saying motorists and residents had been subjected to severe hardship.
The governor said the level of deterioration was unacceptable after about 16 months of the project.
“Looking at the project at hand, looking at the road itself, looking at the suffering of the people and looking at how that road was before now, I felt sorry for those plying the road, especially Edo people,” he said.
Okpebholo described the resources already committed to the project as wasted, arguing that there had been little or no visible progress.
He said the poor performance suggested that the concessionaire lacked the capacity required to execute the project.
“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. You don’t need to tell a layman that something is wrong on that road,” he said.
The governor urged Umahi to take decisive action to resolve the impasse, stressing that the Benin-Asaba road was a critical national corridor.
“Minister, I advise that you do the needful. Edo people are watching. Whatever happens here goes round the entire country. Let’s proffer solutions to this issue. There must be a way out. This is a major road,” Okpebholo said.
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