Governor Godwin Obaseki has defended the road on which his convoy got trapped at the outdated and flooded RCC intersection on the Benin-Sapele-Warri highway, which has become a nightmare for motorists.
The governor stated that the contradicting Federal Government positions on federal roads in states had made it impossible for his administration to repair deteriorating federal highways throughout the state.
BizWatch Nigeria analyzed a viral video showing the Obaseki’s convoy trying to maneuver a bad road which the governor claimed to be a federal road.
“The governor is inside the vehicle, but it has stopped moving,” the background (male) voice remarked. “He is unable to leave his vehicle because he is embarrassed.”
“The position and location of Edo, particularly Benin City, which has been a blessing is now becoming a curse. A blessing because we are very centrally located in Nigeria and we are one state where all major federal trunks pass through.
“We are a transport hub, so you have the dual carriage coming from the West, one coming from the East, one coming from the South-South and one is supposed to be going to the North.
“And a federal policy relating to its roads is very confusing. In the past, we could go as a state, rehabilitate and give the Federal Government the bill for refund. At one point, they said states can apply to take over those roads but I am yet to see one state that they have given a federal road to.
“The Auchi-Ibillo Road was so bad that some of our contractors couldn’t go to their quarry site. We appealed to the Federal Government to do palliative work on that road but they refused, saying the road is under contract.
“If I want to do the same to Benin-Sapele Road, I am not allowed to because first, it is not our road and second, the Federal Government said it had already given it out to a contractor. So, I cannot do anything on that road. So, we are in a very difficult situation in Edo.
“It is like our hands and our legs are tied and they say we should run because the only government people know is their state government.
“I am not here to criticise the Federal Government but I am here to say that we are all Nigerians and it is only fair and proper that the Federal Government, which has 52 per cent of our revenue allocation should treat Nigerians as human beings and that they all come from this country.
“You don’t have to vote for a Federal Government for the government to care about you but it is like there is nobody to talk to. Nobody cares about us in Abuja.”
