Works Minister David Umahi and Minister of State for Works Bello Goronyo were on the field yesterday. They were in Edo and Ekiti states to address the worsening conditions of the Benin-Agbor-Asaba Highway and the Ifaki-Kabba-Ado Ekiti road.
The two roads have become nightmares to commuters, whose complaints informed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive for immediate intervention.
Umahi, who was in Benin City for an on-the-spot assessment of the road, berated the contractor handling the Benin-Asaba Highway Consession Company (BAECC) over poor performance.
In Ekiti, Goronyo assured that the gridlock occasioned by the deplorable road linking Ekiti and Kwara states, would disappear within 24 hours.
Umahi said BAECC lacked the technical know-how to embark on road construction, wondering why it removed existing asphalt without building side drains before embarking on road construction.
Motorists were trapped on the highway for several days due to several failed sections of the road.
The highway was consessioned to BAECC last year. It got a mandate develop it to a 10-lane highway.
In October last year, the firm said it would complete construction of the 10-lane highway within the stipulated time.
But Umahi said the concessionaire would have been arrested for destroying public property, accusing it of manipulating the process to get the job.
He said: ‘I commend Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo for his intervention on lots of federal roads across the state. He is not saying this is federal or state road. I apologise to commuters plying this road.
‘The NDDC is willing to intervene. I am disappointed with the Concessionaire. I take full responsibility for their misdeed and destruction of public assets.
‘The Ministry of Work does not allow removal of asphalt by contratctors. We beg them not to remove it. The concessionaire should have been arrested for destroying public property.
‘This road was not like this when it was handed over. I am instructing the ministry to arrest any concessionaire that remove asphalt from existing roads.’
Turning to BAECC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Samuel Daramola, the minister said: ‘You manipulate the process to get the job. You have no knowledge of road construction. You don’t know what you are doing. You have no technical staff or competence.
‘The President has directed us to do whatever is possible to fix this road. The law is there in overiding public interest. It is also the fault of government for not finding out the competency of concessionaires. You are learning how to do construction on our road. This is dangerous. This is provocation at its highest level.
‘It is a pity when people cannot pass the road. We have competent contractors who we will beg to restore the road. We will be asking CCECC to fix the bad spot in Asaba.
‘I am disappointed. The President has directed me to redesign all roads from Kogi to Warri and around Edo State. They are to be done with concrete pavement. We need total reconstruction of this road and not this palliative.’
Daramola blamed slow pace of work on heavy rains, adding that the heavy vehicular traffic on the highway prevented the firm from construct the side drains.
He said: ‘We expanded the road. We have expanded to eight lanes. We did palliative work for some months. We are wrestling with weather as much as we want to keep to the scope of work.
‘We expected our palliative work to have been completed long ago. We have to choose between doing side drains and combating heavy traffic.
We were compelled to open the road when it is yet to cure. We have to do the work over again. This is consession road and we are funding this road with our money.
‘How do we start with drains when there is heavy traffic. We have tried to engage all parties and communities. We are determined to ensure we complete this road. We have reputation to maintain.’
Chairman, House Committee on Works, Akin Alabi, urged President Tinubu to revisit the agreement with the concessionaire.
He said: ‘We should review all such contract. We cannot afford Concessionaires who can be giving us issues. The people want to see good roads. There must be a palliative measures. Let us come up with a solution where people can move.’
Okpebholo said President Tinubu’s prompt response of showed he cared about the people’s plight.
After inspecting the Ado-Ifaki-Kabba road, Goronyo expressed concern over the hardship being faced by motorists who have been stranded for days.
Promising immediate remedial repair on the failed portion of the road, the minister assured motorists and residents that the government would not fold its arms and leave any federal road impassable.
The minister reiterated the federal government’s commitment to fixing the Ifaki/Oye-Kabba Road within the shortest possible time.
Goronyo said, the road, which links the Southwest with northern part of the country, is a critical economic corridor that requires urgent intervention.
He said that the contract for the rehabilitation of the road was awarded to Gamji last year and that the contractor had been mobilised but was complaining of inadequate funding.
The minister said that the Federal Government would review the funding arrangement and ensure adequate mobilisation of the contractor
Goronyo said the government has commenced immediate intervention through the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), adding that equipment and materials had already been deployed to the affected section.
He said that the Ministry of Work plan to expand the road to four-lane to improve traffic flow and provide easier movement for motorists using the corridor.
Appealing to motorists for patience, Goronyo restated government’s determination to complete the intervention within the shortest possible time.
‘We want to appeal to all the people concerned that they should be patient with us, and we’ll make sure that we put this road to use very, very soon,’ he said.
The minister also spoke of government plan to restrict the movement of articulated vehicles from the affected section from the Ifaki-Ekiti end during the palliative work.
Goronyo said: ‘My appeal to the agitated motorists is that they should please bear with us. We are deploying materials to this place and they should create a conducive atmosphere for the contractor to be able to do this work within 48 hours.’
‘We are going to block the entrance from the Ifaki to ensure that no articulated vehicles ply this road again until this project, I mean this palliative arrangement, is completed.’
Goronyo, who also inspected the failed portion on the Efon-Iwaraja Road, assured residents and motorists that the Federal Government would undertake immediate remedial work to restore access and ease the hardship being experienced by road users.
He said that the intervention was part of the broader directive by President Tinubu to address critical road failures across the country and ensure free flow of traffic.
The minister said the Tinubu-led administration inherited 26,000 road projects nationwide, many of which were in various stages of deterioration.
He listed major projects being undertaken by the administration to include: the Illela-Sokoto-Badagry Highway, which he said stretched about 1,068 kilometres, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, covering about 750 kilometres and the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road. The minister said that the massive investment in road infrastructure was necessary because roads were central to virtually every aspect of the economy.
‘Once you have roads, you have security, you have employment generation, you have agriculture, you have healthcare. You have everything. Roads lead to prosperity,’ Goronyo said.
He said the Federal Government was determined to complete ongoing projects and use improved road infrastructure to stimulate commerce, industries, employment and food security.
‘There is no president in the history of this nation that has given priority to road infrastructure like President Bola Tinubu,’ he said.