The Presidency has described the recent failure of the Benin-Agbor-Asaba Expressway as an isolated incident, blaming the contractor handling the project while highlighting the Federal Government’s swift response to the situation.
The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, stated this on Wednesday during an interview on Channels Television, while reacting to the condition of the highway and the President’s directive for its redesign and total reconstruction.
Dare said the incident should not be taken as a reflection of the condition of federal road projects across the country, noting that several other roads had either been completed or were progressing without similar challenges.
“I think that first, these are isolated cases. And we all know by the nature of road construction, during rainy season, you encounter problems like this,” he said.
He explained that while the government was responsible for identifying roads requiring intervention and providing funding, contractors were expected to execute projects according to the required standards.
“Whatever played out yesterday, we had all the stakeholders there. And it’s important that even the contractor came out, even though he gave excuses, it showed a failure on their part,” Dare said.
His comments came a day after the Minister of Works, David Umahi, inspected the troubled section of the Benin-Agbor-Asaba road in Edo State and apologised to motorists over its condition.
Umahi accepted responsibility for the state of the highway on behalf of the government and criticised the concessionaire handling its reconstruction. He subsequently directed moves towards the total reconstruction of the road after concluding that further palliative repairs would not provide a lasting solution.
Dare said the prompt intervention by the Works Minister, members of the National Assembly and other stakeholders demonstrated the government’s commitment to addressing infrastructure challenges.
“Government has a responsibility to identify the roads that need to be fixed. Government has a responsibility to provide the funding. And then, the next responsibility goes to the contractors to do what is necessary,” he said.
“What we saw yesterday, the Minister, the National Assembly members, and other key stakeholders going there in record time, right on the spot. And I think that’s what good governance is about, responding as quickly and as swiftly as possible, putting the blame where it is, and requesting for immediate action.”
The presidential aide maintained that the Benin-Agbor-Asaba road failure was not representative of the broader state of federal road projects, citing several highways that had been successfully repaired or were progressing without major complaints.
“I said these are isolated, but we have quite a number of other roads where there are no complaints, where the roads have been fixed,” Dare said.
He also defended the pace of ongoing road construction nationwide, acknowledging that motorists would experience some inconvenience while major projects were being executed.
Dare said he recently travelled along the Abuja-Lokoja corridor with about 65 journalists, where he observed completed sections as well as areas where concrete construction was ongoing.
He stressed that road construction was a gradual process, with projects typically executed in phases before completed sections are opened to traffic.
“It’s like a house construction; a house is not built in a day, it’s progressive. Until the roof comes on, the rain will still pour down on the building,” he said.
Dare said the Federal Government was currently executing major road projects across the country, including five legacy roads and about 320 other roads nationwide.
He said the scale of the projects reflected President Tinubu’s focus on infrastructure development, while commending the Ministry of Works for implementing the administration’s road construction programme.
