Group Blames Three Senators for Slow Work on Benin-Auchi-Okene Dual Carriage Way

Adibe Emenyonu in Benin-city

A group, Young Edo Professionals in Politics (YEPP), has taken a swipe at the three senators representing Edo State in the Senate for the slow pace of work on the Benin-Auchi-Okenne-Lokoja highway.

The group said the senators have not done enough to make the users of that road enjoy smooth movement, just as it said the poor state of the road has contributed to the level of insecurity which has resulted in incessant kidnapping and death in the area.

A statement jointly signed by Endurance Egusa and Uyi Obakplo, the group president and secretary respectively, called on the political parties to field people “who are genuinely interested in the progress of Edo people.”

Edo State is represented in the Senate by Senators Francis Alimikhena from Edo North (APC); Clifford Ordia, Edo Central (PDP), and Matthew Uroghide Edo South (PDP).

Part of the statement read: “The pace of work on Benin-Auchi-Okene road has been embarrassingly slow. It was started in 2013, and the then Minister of Works said it was going to be completed within 18 months, but almost nine years after, they are nowhere near completion.

“If the three senators have the interest of the Edo people at heart, irrespective of their political affiliation, they would have jointly visited the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, or even the president to present the sufferings of our people on that road to them. This is not a party matter but a welfare matter for the people of the state. If they had done that, we believe the federal government would have done something fast.

“We hear that these senators want another term in the Senate, and we therefore call on the people to question them on this issue.

“We also hear that the then minister of works is also interested in becoming a senator, so the people should ask him what happened to the 18 months completion he promised. We urge the political parties to field young, vibrant and intelligent people who can give the kind of representation we need.”