BENIN CITY — The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has apologised to commuters and residents of Edo and Delta states over the deplorable condition of the Benin-Sapele and Benin-Asaba roads, and ordered the arrest of the contractors and concessionaires responsible for the failed projects .
Umahi made the declaration on Tuesday during an on-the-spot inspection of the roads in Benin City, where he expressed strong displeasure with the quality of work on the highways .
CDA News Nigeria gathered that the minister accused the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company (BAECC) of lacking the technical competence required to handle a major highway project . He described their actions, including the removal of existing asphalt without constructing adequate side drains, as a destruction of public assets .
“The Ministry of Works does not allow removal of asphalt. We begged them not to remove it. The concessionaire should have been arrested for destroying public property,” Umahi stated, according to reports . He therefore directed all ministry controllers to arrest any contractor found removing asphalt from federal roads without authorisation .
CDA News Nigeria reports that Umahi, who took responsibility for the concessionaire’s failings, said President Bola Tinubu had directed him to do everything possible to restore the road and ease the suffering of commuters . He assured that the government would invoke “overriding public interest” to intervene if necessary, and confirmed plans to redesign the road using concrete pavement .
Chief Executive Officer of BAECC, Samuel Daramola, however, blamed the slow pace of work on heavy rains and heavy vehicular traffic, which he said prevented the construction of side drains . This was contradicted by the project consultant, who said the company had ignored instructions to complete drainage work first .
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