Presidency blames contractors for failure of Benin-Agbor-Asaba Expressway

The Presidency has blamed contractors for the poor state of the Benin-Agbor-Asaba Expressway, where commuters were reported to have been stuck for several days.

Speaking on Channels Television on Wednesday, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, blamed the failure of the road on the contractors handling the ongoing work.

Dare noted that the Federal Government responded swiftly to the public outcry by deploying key stakeholders to the affected section and demanding immediate action from the contractor.

According to him, the incident should not be used to assess the state of road projects across the country, stressing that several other federal roads had been completed or were progressing without similar complaints.

The president’s spokesman further said that the government had a responsibility to identify roads requiring repairs and provide funding, while contractors were expected to execute the projects properly.

“I think that first, these are isolated cases. And we all know by the nature of road construction, during the rainy season, you encounter problems like this.

“Whatever played out yesterday, we had all the stakeholders there. And it’s important that even though the contractor came out, even though he gave excuses, it showed a failure on their part,” Dare said.

Dare’s remark came barely 24 hours after the Minister of Works, David Umahi, inspected the troubled Benin-Agbor-Asaba road in Edo State and apologised to commuters over its condition.