FG Explores Legal Option to End Buhari-era Concession Deal on Benin-Asaba Road

The federal government is exploring legal avenues, including invoking the "law of necessity" based on overriding public interest, to terminate the concession agreement for the Benin-Asaba Road's reconstruction inherited from the Buhari administration. Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, expressed apprehension over the road's deteriorating condition, causing significant inconvenience to motorists and road users.

Despite inheriting the concession from Africa Plus Partners Limited, the Bola Tinubu administration refuses to let the agreement justify neglect of the road. Umahi emphasized that the government is obligated to adhere to due process in handling the agreement but stresses that the wellbeing of Nigerians is of utmost importance. Although the government has formally informed the concessionaire of its default and is evaluating legal options, the concessionaire declined an offer to intervene in the road's rehabilitation without cost.

The Benin-Asaba Road links the South-west with the South-east and South-south, making its poor condition a matter of public concern. The Ministry of Works has assembled several contractors to offer assistance but had to reject the concessionaire's demand to fix the road independently. Umahi dismissed claims that the road's poor state signifies South-east marginalization, highlighting the administration's infrastructure investments in the Lagos-South-east transport corridor, including the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and ongoing works on the Ore route.