The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has moved to address the worsening condition of the Benin-Agbor-Asaba road, following President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive for immediate intervention to ease the hardship faced by motorists and commuters.
Umahi, who arrived in Benin, Edo State, on Tuesday alongside members of the National Assembly Works Committees, is leading a coordinated effort to find urgent solutions to the challenges confronting motorists on the strategic corridor.
The meeting is expected to bring together representatives of the Edo and Delta State Governments as well as the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) to deliberate on measures to restore movement and ease the hardship being experienced by road users.
The Minister said the intervention was in line with President Tinubu’s directive to the Federal Ministry of Works to urgently take corrective action on the affected roads.
“President Tinubu, GCFR, has directed the Federal Ministry of Works to urgently intervene and ensure that necessary corrective actions are taken to restore movement on the affected roads as quickly as possible,” Umahi said.
He also directed the Minister of State for Works to lead a team of ministry officials to the Ifaki-Kabba-Ado Ekiti axis in Ekiti and Kogi States to assess the situation and commence urgent remedial works.
Officials of the ministry were already on the ground as of 10 a.m. Tuesday to begin the intervention.
Umahi expressed concern over the condition of the affected roads and the hardship suffered by motorists, some of whom have spent hours and, in some cases, days stranded on the routes.
He also took responsibility for the situation and apologised to commuters who had been stranded or delayed for several hours and days.
The Minister assured road users that the Federal Government’s intervention would not be limited to temporary relief, stressing that immediate measures were being pursued alongside permanent solutions to restore the roads and improve their long-term reliability.