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FG seeks to terminate Benin-Asaba road concession over contract breaches
The Nigerian works ministry has accused the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company Limited (BAECC) of violating several provisions of its agreement with the Federal Government.
Federal works controller in Edo State, Engr. Babatunde Tajudeen, made the disclosure in a press briefing on the 25km Benin-Asaba concession project, an highway linking the south-east, south-south and parts of the south-west regions.
Tajudeen said the Federal Executive Council approved the concession of the highway to BAECC in January 2023 under a Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer arrangement for 25 years, including a three-year construction period, with the concession agreement subsequently signed in May 2023.
He however noted that the works minister, David Umahi, during his last inspection of the project in August, established that BAECC had allegedly defaulted on several provisions of the concession agreement.
Some of the breaches enumerated by the controller include the scarification of stable asphalt surfaces, engagement of unqualified personnel, lack of capacity to deliver the project, slow pace of work, substandard construction and poor traffic management.
These anomalies according to him have resulted in severe gridlock along the highway repeatedly.
“Everybody knows there is a dispute in the course of the execution of the contract. They peeled off our asphalt, exposing the subgrade foundation to excessive rainwater. By so doing, the subgrade material has become oversaturated.”
Tajudeen said the ministry had proposed the mutual termination of the concession, as the concessionaire, according to him, might not be able to complete the project within the approved framework.
He stated that the ministry had urged BAEEC to allow technically competent contractors from the works ministry to intervene in the project, pending the resolution of the concession dispute, while appealing to motorists and other road users to exercise patience, as the ministry seek legal alternatives in ameliorating the situation.
