ABUJA – The Federal Government has ordered the immediate deployment of major contractors to all three sections of the Benin-Asaba Federal Road to restore damaged portions of the highway after the road’s concessionaire declined to allow government intervention.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, gave the directive after the worsening condition of the strategic highway made it necessary for the government to put public interest first.
Umahi had visited the Benin-Asaba Road about a week earlier and brought contractors together to prepare for urgent repairs on the worst sections of the road.
However, the Federal Ministry of Works said the concession agreement requires the consent of the concessionaire before the Federal Government can directly intervene on the road, adding that the required approval was not given.
The minister subsequently presented three options to the concessionaire, any of which would have allowed the Federal Government to intervene and address the worsening condition of the road. The ministry said none of the options was accepted.
It further said that shortly after Umahi left Asaba, the limited equipment deployed by the concessionaire on the road was reduced to just one machine.
According to the ministry, the reduction in equipment worsened the condition of the road and increased the difficulties faced by motorists and other road users.
Following the development, Umahi directed major contractors within the corridor to immediately mobilise to all three sections of the Benin-Asaba Road and repair the damaged portions.
The Federal Government will bear the cost of the emergency intervention.
Beyond the immediate repairs, the minister also directed the redesign of the entire route for reconstruction with reinforced concrete pavement.
The ministry said the badly damaged sections would first be restored before the entire road is rehabilitated with reinforced concrete pavement.
The Benin-Asaba Road is a major highway linking the South-west and South-south regions with the South-east and carries heavy passenger and commercial traffic.
Meanwhile, Umahi said the Federal Government was also carrying out emergency interventions on several other major roads across the country.
On the Benin-Sapele Road, the ministry said the Federal Government, the Edo and Delta State governments and the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) were working on different sections of the highway, with both temporary and permanent repairs ongoing.
For the Ifaki-Ekiti-Kabba Road, Umahi said the Federal Government was working with Gamji Nigeria Company Limited and Dangote Plc on emergency repairs and permanent work on the worst sections.
On the Sokoto-Zamfara-Katsina Road, the ministry said the inherited 350-kilometre dualisation project had been redesigned, with most sections now being rebuilt with reinforced concrete pavement.
More than 50 kilometres of one carriageway from Sokoto towards Zamfara had been completed, while some sections between Zamfara and Katsina had also been completed.
On the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road, the ministry said the 118-kilometre Lot 1 had been completed, while Lot 2, covering 164 kilometres, was more than 60 per cent complete.
The entire Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano project is expected to be completed by December 2026, with solar-powered lights also being installed along the route to improve visibility and security at night.
Other roads receiving emergency attention include the Bauchi-Jigawa Road, Sagamu-Ore Road, East-West Road and Abuja-Lokoja Road.
On the Sagamu-Ore Road, the ministry said 48 kilometres of the 96-kilometre route had been completed with reinforced concrete pavement, while the abandoned 24-kilometre section around Ore had been approved for immediate restoration.
On the Lokoja-Benin-Warri Road, Umahi said President Bola Tinubu had directed the complete redesign and procurement of the approximately 400-kilometre dualised route covering the uncompleted sections. Reinforced concrete pavement will be used, while temporary repairs continue.
In Lagos, the ministry said weekly maintenance of the underwater parts of Carter Bridge was ongoing, while the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) had started work on a permanent replacement bridge.
The Federal Government is also working to determine the appropriate intervention for damaged underwater structural parts of the Third Mainland Bridge.
Meanwhile, work has started on a flooded section of the Lagos-Ibadan Road, while other federal roads affected by flooding across the six geopolitical zones have been identified for urgent attention.
On the Niger bridges, Umahi said work was ongoing on the approach roads to the Second Niger Bridge, while the First Niger Bridge had been closed to traffic for major rehabilitation.
The ministry said the Federal Government was currently working on more than 80 per cent of inherited federal roads, describing the scale of intervention as unprecedented.
It added that reinforced concrete pavement was increasingly being adopted as a permanent solution, with such roads expected to last between 50 and 100 years.
The ministry acknowledged concerns over the condition of several roads but said the level of infrastructure deterioration inherited by the administration meant that all the problems could not be resolved within three years.
It urged Nigerians to continue reporting failed roads and to inform the ministry when emergency repairs had been completed, noting that old photographs and reports of damaged roads sometimes continued to circulate on social media after remedial work had been carried out.
