FG May Sanction Benin-Asaba Concessionaire for Gross Contract Violations

By Adedapo Adesanya

The federal government has raised fresh concerns over the performance of the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company Limited (BAECC), accusing the concessionaire of grossly violating several provisions of its agreement.

The Federal Controller of Works in Edo State, Mr Babatunde Tajudeen, at a press briefing on the Benin-Asaba concession project, said the ministry was considering measures to restore the highway and ease the hardship being experienced by motorists.

The 125-kilometre Benin-Asaba Highway, which stretches from Ring Road Roundabout in Benin City to Summit Junction in Asaba, Delta State, is a major federal highway linking the South-East, South-South and parts of the South-West regions.

Mr Tajudeen explained that the project was one of the pilot corridors under the Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI), introduced by the Federal Government to attract private-sector funding and technical expertise into the development and management of federal highways.

According to him, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the concession of the highway to BAECC on January 16, 2023, under a Design, Finance, Build, Operate and Transfer arrangement for 25 years, including a three-year construction period. The concession agreement was subsequently signed on May 23, 2023.

He said the Minister of Works, Mr David Umahi, during his August 25, 2026 inspection of the project with Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo, established that BAECC had allegedly defaulted on several provisions of the concession agreement, resulting in a dispute over the execution of the project.

Among the alleged breaches, Mr Tajudeen listed the complete 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, which he said had repeatedly resulted in severe gridlock along the highway.

“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.”

The Federal Controller said the ministry had proposed the mutual termination of the concession, arguing that the concessionaire had caused further deterioration of the highway and might not be able to complete the project within the approved Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation.

He further disclosed that the ministry had urged BAECC to immediately reinstate the asphalt it had removed and allow technically competent contractors of the Federal Ministry of Works to intervene in the project, pending the resolution of the concession dispute.

Mr Tajudeen appealed to motorists and other road users to exercise patience, assuring them that the Minister of Works was exploring legitimate alternatives to restore the highway.