Senate declares Bauchi-Ningi highway death trap, demands urgent rehabilitation

The Senate Wednesday declared the Bauchi-Ningi Federal Highway a “death trap” and called for urgent intervention to rehabilitate the strategic road linking the North-East and North-West geopolitical zones of the country.

The resolution followed a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Senator Abdul Ningi (APC Bauchi Central), during plenary on Wednesday, when he noted that the highway was constructed in the late 1980s and has suffered decades of neglect without major rehabilitation.

He said age –  abandonment, increasing traffic volume and lack of maintenance have left the road in total disrepair, with extensive pavement failures, deep potholes and eroded sections.

According to him, the deplorable condition has turned the road into a grave risk to commuters, drastically increasing travel time by making a  journey of approximately one hour between Bauchi and Ningi, covering about 100 kilometres, now taking  close to four hours.

This  he added , has led to higher transportation costs, loss of productive man-hours and disruption of economic activities.

The lawmaker also observed that the bad state of the highway has exposed commuters to frequent road crashes, armed robbery and other security threats, especially where vehicles slow down or remain stranded on failed sections.

He expressed worry that continued neglect of the critical federal highway has adversely affected interstate commerce, agricultural value chains and regional integration.

The Senate accordingly urged  the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA, to immediately undertake emergency palliative repairs on failed sections pending comprehensive rehabilitation.

It also urged the Federal Ministry of Works to, as a matter of urgent national importance, commence immediate rehabilitation and reconstruction of the Bauchi-Ningi Federal Highway.

The upper chamber further mandated its Committee on Works to undertake an on-the-spot assessment of the road, engage relevant stakeholders and report back within four weeks with recommendations for legislative action.