Benin-Asaba Road: Rescue Must Not Become Cover-Up, Activist Advises FG

Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting

Civil society activist, Rev. David Ugolor, has urged the Federal Government to ensure that its emergency intervention on the distressed Benin-Asaba Road goes beyond providing temporary relief to motorists, stressing the need for accountability and a lasting solution to the road’s underlying challenges.

Ugolor, in the latest edition of The Common Good Letter, welcomed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decision to deploy more than 50 pieces of equipment to the strategic highway.

He described the intervention as necessary to alleviate the difficulties being experienced by motorists, transporters, businesses and communities that depend on the road.

However, he maintained that the emergency measures should serve as more than a short-term response, calling for sustained action to address the structural and systemic problems responsible for the road’s deteriorating condition.

But he said the emergency operation should be treated as a rescue mission, not the end of the accountability process.

The Benin-Asaba corridor was awarded under a 25-year public-private concession intended to attract private financing for the reconstruction and maintenance of the highway.

Ugolor questioned how the arrangement reached a stage where the Federal Government is now committing public resources to emergency works.

He called for the publication of the concession agreement, the concessionaire’s technical and financial qualifications, financing arrangements, performance guarantees and reports by the Independent Engineer.

Ugolor also demanded details of the emergency intervention, including its total cost, contractors and equipment suppliers, procurement process, equipment-hire rates, project specifications, funding source and plans to recover public funds where expenditure is attributable to concessionaire default.

He further urged the Federal Government and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission to explain the reported contractual requirement for government to obtain the concessionaire’s permission before intervening in the deteriorating road.

According to him, any properly structured public-private partnership involving critical infrastructure should contain effective government step-in provisions to protect public safety and prevent prolonged disruption.

On the proposed redesign of the highway with reinforced concrete pavement, Ugolor called for the release of the engineering assessments, traffic and axle-load studies, drainage plans, lifecycle-cost comparisons, revised project cost and construction timetable.

He said the government must also clearly state whether it intends to enforce, restructure or terminate the existing concession, stressing that any new arrangement must include strong financial and performance safeguards.

“The road must be rescued, but the truth must also be rescued,” Ugolor said, urging the government to use the crisis to strengthen transparency and reform Nigeria’s road-concession system.

He warned that without accountability, Nigerians could end up paying twice-first through the concession arrangement and again through emergency public expenditure.

He further call for an independent technical, procurement and value-for-money audit, public disclosure of the concession’s beneficial owners and monthly publication of verified physical and financial progress on the road.