The Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki has said plans are underway for the state government to take over the reconstruction of the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi highway to put an end to years of the deplorable state of the road.
Obaseki said this after inspecting one of the 40 Edo City Transport Service (ECTS) buses refurbished by the state government, at the Government House in Benin City.
Obaseki said, “We are in conversation with the Federal Government. I met with the Minister for Works last week and he assured me that remedial work would start this week on the Benin-Ekpoma-Auchi Road. The minister assured that some funding was available to continue work on the road.”
The Governor, however, noted that the remedial work being done on the road was not good enough, adding, “the state government wants a total rebuild of the road.”
He continued, “We are exploring the possibility of requesting the Federal Government to give us the entire stretch of the road (from Benin to Auchi) so we can raise funding to complete the work on the road.
“The road is a main artery in the state as it connects the three Senatorial Districts of the state; if we do not fix that road, it will have serious consequences on the economy of the state”.
He said the state was considering reconstructing the road in phases.
“The road is a priority and we can fix the road in segments; start with the Benin-Ekpoma axis, then the Ekpoma-Okpella axis, then the Okpella -Okene axis”, the Governor said.
