The Works Minister has pushed back against recent criticism over the state of the Benin–Onitsha highway, arguing that claims of government neglect in the South-East ignore both historical realities and ongoing infrastructure work across the region.
In a detailed response to an article titled “The Benin–Onitsha Road: A Monument to Neglect and the Insensitivity of Power,” Senator David Umahi accused the writer of presenting an incomplete picture. The Ministry, in a statement signed by its Director of Information and Public Relations, Mohammed A. Ahmed, said “legitimate concern must not be distorted into a narrative that ignores history, contractual obligations, and the substantial road infrastructure intervention currently taking place across the South-East.”
The Minister posed several questions to the critics, including how many times they had acknowledged the “enormous number of Federal road projects being executed across the South-East under the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Renaissance of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.” He also questioned whether the Benin–Onitsha Road was in its present condition only after President Tinubu assumed office, and whether “every road in Nigeria be fixed within three years of a new administration assuming office, regardless of inherited contracts, concession agreements, funding constraints, and procurement laws.”
Umahi described the attempt to present the current condition of the Benin–Onitsha road as though it was created by the Tinubu administration as “intellectually dishonest.” He noted that the administration inherited “a vast network of deteriorating 2,064 Federal roads and bridges projects after decades of accumulated infrastructure deficits” and that “the condition of major highways across the country predates the present administration.”
The Minister clarified the contractual status of the Benin–Asaba stretch, explaining that it is governed by a 25-year Value-Added Concession under the Highway Development and Management Initiative. He cautioned that “government is bound by law. It is bound by contract. And it must observe due process.” He added that the government “cannot arbitrarily terminate an existing Concession Agreement without considering the legal and financial consequences, including the possibility of litigation and humongous claims against the Federal Government.”
Rather than abandoning the road, Umahi said the Ministry has been “engaging the Concessionaire over the pace of work and demanding better performance.” He stressed that “the fact that the road is concessioned does not mean the Federal Government has abandoned responsibility. It means that responsibility must be exercised within the framework of the existing contractual and legal arrangements.” He also disclosed that the Federal Government commenced “a review of inherited highway concession agreements in 2025 precisely to address concerns surrounding transparency, accountability, performance and value for money.”
The Minister argued that criticism should not be reduced to selective memory. He insisted that “the argument cannot reasonably be reduced to: ‘One road has a problem, therefore the government is doing nothing in the South-East.’ That is not a fair assessment of infrastructure policy and delivery.”
He listed numerous strategic roads being advanced in the region, including the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway, where he noted that “the Ministry has been undertaking substantial reconstruction works, including concrete pavement, and in April, 2026 reopened an initial 15-kilometre completed section.” Other projects mentioned include the Enugu–Abakaliki–Ogoja dualisation, Afikpo–Okigwe Road, Onueke Flyover, Trans-Sahara Superhighway connecting Calabar, Ebonyi and Benue, access roads to the Second Niger Bridge, as well as rehabilitation work on the Aba–Owerri, Onitsha–Owerri, Enugu–Port Harcourt and Aba–Ikot Ekpene corridors.
Umahi also dismissed any suggestion that infrastructure delivery is being influenced by political considerations. He stated that “there is no basis for equating political advocacy with a government policy of denying roads to citizens” and insisted that “the Federal Government’s road programme extends across all six geopolitical zones of the country.”
The Minister acknowledged that “the complaints of commuters are real. The pressure on businesses is real. The delays, vehicle damage and safety concerns are real.” He maintained, however, that “the Ministry must continue to press the concessionaire, enforce contractual obligations and use every lawful mechanism available to secure improvement.”
He urged Nigerians to adopt a balanced assessment that “should contain both the failures that remain and the progress that has been made.” He warned that anything less “risks turning journalism into advocacy rather than investigation.”
Umahi concluded that “the Benin–Onitsha road deserves fixing — but the truth about who inherited the problem, who holds the contractual obligation, and what the present administration is doing must be told, univocally.”
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