Benin-Asaba Road: Umahi orders concessionaire off project

By Jethro Ibileke

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Wednesday ordered the concessionaire handling the Benin-Asaba Road to vacate the project site and immediately remove all blockages causing hardship to road users.

Umahi issued the directive during a stakeholders’ engagement at the Edo State Government House in Benin City.

The minister appealed to the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company (BAECC) to formally write to the Federal Government, through the Ministry of Works, to enable the termination of its contract.

“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.

“We are therefore pleading with you to give us written approval to proceed in this manner. We believe this is the way forward,” he said.

Umahi further instructed the Federal Ministry of Works to write to the Independent Engineer to measure all works carried out, “excluding what we describe as negative work.”

“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 ministry did not believe BAECC currently had 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,” he warned.

Meanwhile, Umahi directed that the affected sections be reconstructed immediately under the supervision of the Independent Engineer to ease the hardship faced by commuters.

He also ordered the concessionaire to provide a technical design for proper stormwater canalisation, restore all removed asphalt, redirect water channelled onto the carriageway and ensure the free flow of traffic along the road.

In his remarks, Governor Monday Okpebholo expressed disappointment with the state of the road after 16 months, describing the work done so far as a total waste of resources.

“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. What we are seeing now is not what I should be seeing at this point after 16 months. Nothing has been done. To me, it is a total waste of resources.

“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. Minister, I advise that you do the needful. Edo people are watching. This is a major road,” he said.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Works, Senator Allwell Onyesoh, described the situation as “terrible”.

He said: “The concessionaires and whoever pushed for this concessionaire 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.”

Responding, the Head of Legal and Compliance of BAECC, Mr Peterson Fabian, appealed for more time for engagement.

“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.