FG Spends Over N1.4bn, Yet Same Benin-Agbor Road Traps Travellers for Days
The Federal Government of Nigeria has paid at least N1.46 billion for maintenance, repairs, rehabilitation and pavement strengthening works on the deteriorated Benin-Agbor road between 2021 and 2026 which travellers have been lamenting about since Thursday, FIJ can report.
Since August 20, travellers have recorded videos of the deplorable condition of the Benin-Agbor Bypass and shared them on social media. Some of the videos are accompanied with the details of travellers’ experiences on the road.
More often than not, the travellers complained about how long they have been stranded on the road because of its poor condition.
One of the videos FIJ saw on X was captioned, “2 days now, no food no water”, due to the gridlock on the road. The video shows a woman brushing her teeth and rinsing with a sachet of water.
In another video, travellers, who looked to be in distress were protesting and called out to the government. One of them said:
“APC, we no dey collect money. Make una do our road for us. Tinubu, we don’t need money, make una do our road for us,” a protester said.
Other protesters chanted, “All we are saying, give us a good road.”
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The videos prompted FIJ to revisit the condition of the road and examine how well government spending on the corridor over the years has translated into actual repairs.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS PAID N1.46 BILLION FOR ROAD WORKS
Through Govspend, the civic tech accountability portal which mirrors the Federal Government’s Open Treasury Portal, FIJ found at least N1,465,750,053.48 in payments made between 2021 and 2026 for maintenance, repairs, pavement strengthening and other works connected to the Benin-Agbor corridor.
The payments were made to USYK Nigeria, Sematech/Sermatech, Dazini Projects Limited and Shakira and Shakiru Ventures Limited through different government agencies.
In 2021, the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing paid USYK Nigeria N179.53 million and another N62.71 million, bringing the payments to the contractor that year to N242.25 million. In 2022, USYK Nigeria received another N44.88 million from the ministry.
The ministry subsequently paid Sematech N448.84 million in 2024 and Sermatech N461.37 million in 2025. There was also a N256.67 million payment to Dazini Projects Limited on September 11, 2025, for the “general maintenance of c/way repairs of failed section, concrete lined drain & pavement strengthening along Benin-Agbor dual c/way (both bound) ch.3+000-54+000 in Edo State”.
The payment was made through the Federal Road Maintenance Agency. In 2026, N11.74 million was paid to Shakira and Shakiru Ventures Limited through the Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Headquarters.
The identified payments therefore amount to N1.46 billion.
| YEAR | CONTRACTOR | AMOUNT | AGENCY |
| 2021 | USYK Nigeria | N179,534,883.72 | Federal Ministry of Works and Housing |
| 2021 | USYK Nigeria | N62,711,481.72 | Federal Ministry of Works and Housing |
| 2022 | USYK Nigeria | N44,883,720.93 | Federal Ministry of Works and Housing |
| 2024 | Sematech | N448,839,207.73 | Federal Ministry of Works and Housing |
| 2025 | Sermatech | N461,367,990.37 | Federal Ministry of Works and Housing |
| 2025 | Dazini Projects Limited | N256,668,080.64 | Federal Road Maintenance Agency |
| 2026 | Shakira and Shakiru Ventures Limited | N11,744,688.37 | Federal Ministry of Niger Delta Headquarters |
| TOTAL | N1,465,750,053.48 |
2023: RESIDENTS BLOCK THE ROAD
The August protest was not the first time residents had taken action over the state of the road.
In October 2023, residents and truck drivers blocked the Benin-Agbor Road to protest its deplorable condition. At the time, the protesters blocked both the main road and the roads that linked up to the highway. FIJ gathered that motorists had been using those alternatives to transit the route because the highway had deteriorated badly.
Protesters in 2023 gave the government five days to begin remedial work. The consequent spillover disrupted movement for commuters, students, workers and businesses in the area.
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The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Edo State branch, had also threatened in September 2023 to suspend the sale of petroleum products across the state if the government failed to carry out emergency repairs. The Benin-Agbor Road was among the roads listed by the association.
It gave the government seven days to act because of the financial losses caused by the poor roads.
GOVERNMENT RESPONDS WITH PALLIATIVES
About a week after the residents blocked the road, palliative work began.
Contractors, working for the Edo State Government, told journalists that the intervention was intended to make the road motorable while motorists waited for full rehabilitation.
Former governor Godwin Obaseki inspected the work in November 2023 and ordered the reconstruction of the old Benin-Agbor Road.
Obaseki had also described the work as a palliative intervention rather than a permanent solution. At the time, Obaseki said the Federal Government had previously placed the road under a concession and that the state would not be reimbursed for the money it spent on the intervention.
THE PROBLEM PREDATES THE 2023 PROTEST
The Benin-Agbor corridor had been attracting complaints years before the 2023 protests. FIJ found newspaper reports dating as far back as 2017, detailing the deterioration and the consequent industrial action on the road.
For instance, The Guardian reported that 253 crashes and 127 deaths had occurred on the Benin-Asaba road in one year.
In October 2017, lawmakers summoned contractors handling some of the roads after complaints about their poor condition.
The situation on the Benin-Auchi corridor had become so difficult that motorists travelling from Benin towards Ekpoma and Auchi were reportedly using Agbor in Delta State as a detour.
The lawmakers’ intervention showed that the problem was no longer simply a matter of motorists complaining about potholes. The condition of the roads had become a political issue, with contractors being called to explain why rehabilitation work was not progressing as expected.
BENIN–ASABA ROAD REMAINS UNDER CONCESSION, BUT PROGRESS HAS DRAWN CONCERNS
The 125-kilometre Benin–Asaba Expressway is being redeveloped under a 25-year concession awarded to Africa Plus Partners Nigeria Limited Consortium through the Benin-Asaba Expressway Concession Company Limited (BAECC).
The project was formally flagged off in March 2025 as a privately financed PPP, with a 30-month construction timeline.
However, Nigerians have complained about the pace and condition of the road during construction. In October 2025, motorists, traders and residents along the Benin-Agbor corridor complained about slow and disruptive works. At the time, BAECC maintained that it was committed to completing the project on schedule.
There was also a temporary suspension of major construction activities over the 2025 Christmas period. BAECC announced that work would be paused on December 21, 2025, and resume on January 5.
By June, BAECC said reconstruction was still on course despite localised flooding along parts of the corridor.
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