Nigeria’s Federal Government has moved to terminate the concession agreement for the Benin-Asaba Expressway, with Works Minister David Umahi asking the company managing the road to formally request the contract’s end, citing poor performance.
Umahi made the demand on Wednesday during a stakeholders’ engagement at the Edo State Government House in Benin City, directing the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company (BAECC) to write to the government to enable termination proceedings. He also ordered the concessionaire to immediately clear all blockages on the highway to restore traffic flow and ease hardship for motorists.
The move follows an on-the-spot inspection during which Umahi strongly criticized BAECC’s handling of the project, accusing the company of having “failed woefully” and lacking the technical capacity required for the job. He specifically faulted the concessionaire’s decision to strip existing asphalt from sections of the road before completing drainage work, a sequencing error he said worsened the highway’s deterioration.
The Benin-Agbor-Asaba corridor, a key commercial route linking Edo and Delta states, has left motorists and passengers stranded for days amid the gridlock. A project consultant representative said the concessionaire had ignored instructions to prioritize drainage construction ahead of resurfacing.
The government said it would invoke an overriding public interest provision to intervene directly and restore the affected sections of the highway. Umahi also announced plans to review all concessioned road contracts nationwide to verify compliance with agreed terms, and separately inspected ongoing reconstruction work on a stretch of the nearby Benin-Sapele-Warri Road, expressing satisfaction with that project’s progress.
Officials, including Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo, have appealed for patience from residents while pledging support for a broader review of Nigeria’s concession framework.
