The Senate on Thursday mandated its Committee on Works to carry out effective oversight on the repairs of Okene-Benin road before the rainy season commenced fully.
The step followed a motion by Sen. Francis Alimikhena (APC-Edo) on “Urgent Need for the Repairs/Reconstruction and Dualization of Okene-Auchi-Ekpoma-Benin Road’’ at plenary.
He said that road infrastructure was critical for economic and commercial development, and was one of the most visible signs of government in any community or state.
“The Okene-Auchi-Ekpoma-Benin road is the only major highway that connects South-South, South-East to Abuja and the northern part of Nigeria
“The large sections of the road, especially from Okene-Auchi-Ekpoma to Benin have become dangerous craters that can no longer serve as road.
“It will be impossible to access if not repaired before the rainy season,” Alimikhena said.
According to him, the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) used to do palliative road maintenance on the road but since 2016, the agency has abandoned its responsibility.
“This has led to total collapse of the road thus making it difficult to access,” he said.
He said the state of the road required immediate rehabilitation to reduce the unacceptable level of accidents, robbery and kidnapping.
The lawmaker said that the contract to dualize and reconstruct the road was awarded to some contractors over six years ago, adding that in the 2016 Appropriation, N5 billion was allocated to two sections of the road.
He said that in spite of the N5 billion allocation, the contractors abandoned work on the road on grounds that the funds approval for the project was not cash-backed.
Supporting the motion, Sen. Emmanuel Paulker (PDP-Bayelsa) said Nigerians were suffering on a daily basis on that road.
“I f we allow this road to stay in this type of situation, commuters will suffer a great deal,” he said.
He called for palliative measures to save the road.
In his remarks, Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, appealed to state governments to show interest in such matters and not rely solely on the Federal Government.
“It is time we made sure that the alternative means of fixing our roads is deployed, including private sector participation, which is the standard all over the world.” (NAN)