Benin-Asaba Highway: Minister orders arrest of contractors removing existing asphalt

Benin-Asaba Highway: Minister orders arrest of contractors removing existing asphalt

From our journalist

Benin (Core Reporters) Taking a cue from the sufferings of road users and host communities on the Benin-Asaba highway caused by the ongoing reconstruction and expansion works, the Honorable Minister of Works, Sen. Eng. David Umahi, carried out an on-site assessment visit to the project affected areas on Tuesday, 25 August 2026.

To highlight the importance of alleviating the negative impact of the ongoing works, the Minister was accompanied by members of the National Assembly Committees on Works, the Governor of Edo State, Senior Special Assistants to the President (SSA-P) on Community Engagement, South-South, South-East and North-Central zones, the Managing Director/CEO of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NNDC) and representatives of the Infrastructure Concessions Regulatory Commission (ICRC).

Eng Umahi has reprimanded the concessionaire, Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company Limited (BAECC), for unprofessional conduct and slowness despite numerous warnings from the project’s independent engineer, Messrs Yolas Consultants Limited and officials of the Ministry. “You are not adhering to best engineering practices in road construction and your methodology has a negative impact on road users, host neighborhoods and the pace of work,” the Minister said.

The Benin-Asaba Expressway is a strategic federal highway starting from AIF Roundabout in Benin City, Edo State, and ending at Summit Junction in Asaba, Delta State, with a distance of 125 kilometers. The alignment provides an important link between the South-East, South-South and parts of the South-Western parts of Nigeria, linking major economic centers and facilitating the movement of passengers and goods, commercial activities and regional connectivity. It is one of the pilot corridors of the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), Phase I, implemented through a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement. The HDMI is intended to leverage private sector investment and technical expertise for the sustainable development, operation and management of federal highways, outside of the federal government’s budget, thereby freeing up funds for other development projects.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC), on January 16, 2023, approved the concession of the Benin-Asaba Highway, on a design, finance, build, operate and transfer (DFBOT) basis for a concession period of twenty-five (25) years, including a construction period of three (3) years. Accordingly, the concession agreement was entered into between the Ministry and the incorporated special purpose vehicle (SPV), BAECC, on 23 May 2023. However, towards the end of 2023, macroeconomic volatility, inflationary pressures and rising financing costs made an addendum to the concession agreement necessary.

A complete review of the project

was undertaken by the Ministry, in collaboration with the Infrastructure Concessions Regulatory Commission (ICRC), the Federal Ministry of Finance (FMoF), the Federal Ministry of Justice (FMoJ), the Debt Management Office (DMO), the Office of Public Enterprises (BPE), the Federal Ministry of the Environment (FMEnv) and the concessionaire.

Following the review, the project was formally handed over to the Concessionaire on March 23, 2025. A Commencement Order was subsequently issued establishing a thirty-six (36) month completion period for the construction phase commencing from April 8, 2025 to April 8, 2028.

Since the project began, the Ministry has carried out numerous technical commitments and issued directives to support and ensure its effective implementation. These include the site inspection by the Honorable Minister in October 2025, the Project Delivery Team (PDT) site inspections in January and May 2026, as well as meetings convened between officials from the Ministry, BAECC and the independent engineer from 21 to 22 July 2026. During these meetings with the Concessionaire, it became apparent that the project was not being executed as planned, largely due to shortcomings on the part of the Concessionaire, and the Dealer was ordered to make immediate repairs.

Explaining the slow progression of the project, BAECC Managing Director/CEO, Samuel Daramola, attributed it to a high volume of traffic on the alignment, being one of the busiest routes in the country, and heavy torrential rains, the corridor experiencing double peaks of rainfall, which the Minister classified as mere “unprofessional and unsustainable excuses”.

The minister apologized to Nigerians for the untold stories experienced in the corridor. He also reproached the Concessionaire for having tampered with the asphalt of the smooth sections of the motorway, destroying the already stabilized substructure. He then ordered all federal construction controllers and engineering representatives to henceforth arrest any contractor who completely removes asphalt from an existing road.

As a proactive measure to ensure smooth flow of traffic on critical portions of the highway, Eng. Umahi disclosed that a competent contractor will be immediately engaged to remedy the matter, assuring road users and host communities that His Excellency, President Bola Tinubu, GCFR bears the burden of their sufferings.

In their speeches during the visit, the Chairmen of the Senate and House Committees on Labor, Sen. Allwell Onyesoh and Hon. Akin Alabi, respectively, was empathetic towards road users and host communities, described what he witnessed as “an unacceptable disaster” and promised a holistic nationwide review of concession agreements with the aim of ensuring strict compliance with their terms.

Also, speaking to the SSA-P, Community Engagement, South South Zone, Mrs Gift Johnbull assured the people that the President is aware of their difficulties and instructed that a lasting solution be found to ameliorate them.

The Edo State Governor, His Excellency Senator Okpebholo, on Monday assured the good people of Edo State and motorists that the minister has found a solution to solve the problem, once and for all, appealing for more patience on their part as the work progresses.

A follow-up meeting involving all parties involved in the project is scheduled for today, Wednesday 26 August 2026 at the Edo State Government House.

The visiting team also inspected the ongoing reconstruction of 23 kilometers of collapsed sections of the Benin-Sapele-Warri Road on Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP) undertaken by the Edo State Government, on behalf of the Federal Government. The Minister, informed that 75% of the project has been completed, expressed satisfaction with the quality and speed of the work carried out by Messrs. CBC Global Civil and Building Construction (Nig.) Limited.

Also inspected was the ongoing reconstruction of a 10 kilometer stretch on the Benin-Sapele-Warri Road, Section I, Phase 2, again undertaken by the State Government, on behalf of the Federal Government, and executed by Messrs. CCECC (Nigeria) Limited. About 25% of the work has been completed and is progressing smoothly on the CRCP.

As an interventionist entity, the Managing Director/CEO of NDDC, Dr. Samuel Ogbuku, has promised to reconstruct a badly damaged 15.4 kilometer stretch between Edo and Delta States border on the Benin-Sapele road. The Minister thanked him for the kind gesture, ordering his team and that of the Commission to work together on the modalities of the project.