The Presidency has described the recent deterioration of the Benin-Agbor-Asaba Expressway as an isolated incident, blaming the contractor handling the project for the failure and stressing that the Federal Government responded swiftly to the situation.

Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, stated this on Channels Television on Wednesday while reacting to the poor condition of the highway and the President’s directive for its redesign and total reconstruction.

Dare said the condition of the road should not be used to judge the performance of federal road projects nationwide, noting that several other roads had either been completed or were progressing without similar complaints.

“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.

According to him, the government is responsible for identifying roads requiring intervention and providing the necessary funding, while contractors are expected to execute projects according to specification.

Dare said the contractor’s explanation for the failure of the road did not absolve it of responsibility.

“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,” he said.

His comments followed an inspection of the troubled road by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Tuesday.

Umahi apologised to commuters over the deplorable condition of the highway and condemned the concessionaire handling the reconstruction. He subsequently directed moves towards the total reconstruction of the road after concluding that palliative repairs would not adequately address the problem.

The Benin-Agbor-Asaba corridor had experienced severe gridlock for about two weeks, disrupting transportation and increasing the hardship faced by motorists and commuters. Although the gridlock had eased when The PUNCH visited the Benin axis on Tuesday, sections of the highway remained in poor condition.

Dare also defended the Federal Government’s response, saying the rapid deployment of the Works Minister, National Assembly members and other stakeholders to the affected area demonstrated its 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.

He maintained that the Benin-Asaba road situation was not representative of the entire federal road network.

“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 added.

The presidential aide also said motorists should expect some inconvenience while major road projects are being executed, explaining that large infrastructure projects are usually completed in phases.

Dare cited the Abuja-Lokoja road, which he said he recently travelled along with about 65 journalists, noting that some sections had been completed while concrete construction was ongoing on others.

Using a house under construction as an analogy, he said road development was progressive and that temporary inconveniences could occur before projects were fully completed.

Dare disclosed that the Federal Government was currently implementing major road projects across the country, including five legacy roads and about 320 other roads.

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 programme.

“Is President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on top of what’s happening? Absolutely. We’re talking about five legacy roads; we’re talking about 320 roads across the length and breadth of our country,” Dare said.

The Federal Government’s renewed intervention on the Benin-Agbor-Asaba corridor follows mounting complaints over its worsening condition, with motorists reporting vehicle damage, prolonged travel times and rising transportation and business costs.