The presidency has blamed the deplorable state of the Benin-Asaba Expressway on the failure of the contractor to act professionally.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, stated this during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday while reacting to the condition of the highway.
Dare said that while the road had been a difficult one that had transcended about three or four presidents, whatever palliative works the contractor carried out on the road were not professionally done.
He, however, said the incident should be treated as an isolated case and not be used to assess the state of road projects across the country.
The President’s aide spoke amid several complaints by motorists and commuters on the poor state of the road.
On Tuesday, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, inspected the Benin-Agbor-Asaba road in Edo State, where he also apologised to commuters over its current state.
The Benin-Asaba highway was concessioned to BAECC in 2025, to turn the road to a 10-lane highway and the project was to have been completed with toll gates in September 2027, to enable the company recoup its investment and maintain the road for 25 years.
The Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, who disclosed this when he went on an on-the-spot assessment of the concessioned Benin-Asaba highway, tongue-lashed the concession company, BAECC, over poor handling of the project.
He said the company had ‘’failed woefully’’ as it lacked the technical knowledge to handle the job, and called for a meeting of all stakeholders to review the situation.
He also promised that government will bring a contractor to make the road motorable in the short term.
Motorists have been trapped on the highway for several days due to many failed sections of the road.
Credit: channelstv.com
