By Efe J Igbinosa

The Benin–Asaba Expressway Concession Company (BAECC) is the project company associated with the Benin–Asaba Expressway concession. The concession itself was awarded to the Africa Plus Partners (APP) consortium under the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI).

It is important to distinguish between the concessionaire, project company, financing partners, infrastructure partners, and ultimate beneficial owners. These entities and relationships should not be treated as interchangeable without documentary evidence.

Triple A Infrastructure Nigeria Limited has been identified as a project financing and infrastructure partner associated with Africa Plus Partners in connection with the Benin–Asaba Expressway project. The Federal Government approved the transaction within the HDMI framework, under which the private-sector consortium would undertake the financing, reconstruction, operation and maintenance of the highway for the duration of the concession.

The concession is structured around 25 years. The precise economic rights of the concessionaire, including how it recovers its investment, what revenues it may receive, whether tolls or other user charges apply, and how those revenues are shared, are documented in the actual concession agreement, shareholders’ agreement, financial model, and related transaction documents.

The BAECC–Triple A Ownership Question: 

One of the most important issues requiring clarification is the corporate relationship between BAECC and Triple A Infrastructure. At present, there is no authoritative evidence sufficient to conclusively establish that BAECC is legally a subsidiary of Triple A Infrastructure. Such a claim should not be presented as a fact unless supported by primary corporate or transaction documents, including: – Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) incorporation and shareholder records; corporate filings identifying the shareholders and directors of BAECC; the concession agreement; shareholders’ or subscription agreements; financing agreements;

project-company documentation; or other authoritative records establishing the ownership and control structure.

This distinction is critical. Being a financing partner, infrastructure partner, shareholder, sponsor, director, adviser or related company does not necessarily mean that one entity is the legal parent or beneficial owner of another.

Accordingly, the assertion that “BAECC is a subsidiary of Triple A Infrastructure” should be treated as unproven unless primary documentation establishes it.

The Obaseki–Afrinvest–Chioke Connection

There is documented historical and professional relationship that deserves to be clearly acknowledged and investigated. Godwin Obaseki founded the investment-banking business that eventually became Afrinvest in 1995. Ike Chioke subsequently became a senior executive within the Afrinvest organization and is now its Group Managing Director. Chioke has also publicly described his professional relationship with Obaseki as dating back to the 1990s.

Chioke has separately been identified as the CEO of Triple A Infrastructure Nigeria Limited, which has been associated with the financing and infrastructure structure surrounding the Benin–Asaba Expressway project. These facts establish a longstanding professional and institutional connection between individuals associated with the investment-banking business founded by Obaseki and institutions involved in major infrastructure and investment projects in Edo State and Nigeria at large.

However, those relationships alone do not establish that:

Godwin Obaseki owns 

– Triple A Infrastructure;

– Afrinvest owns Triple A Infrastructure;

– Obaseki personally funded BAECC;

– Obaseki personally owns BAECC;

– Triple A Infrastructure owns BAECC; or

any of these relationships constitute an undisclosed beneficial ownership arrangement.

Those are separate factual propositions requiring documentary evidence. The distinction is particularly important because a historical professional relationship, by itself, does not establish ownership, control, beneficial interest, conflict of interest or financial misconduct.

The ₦228 Billion Benin–Asaba Reconstruction Arrangement

In January/February 2024, the Edo State Government announced a ₦228 billion reconstruction arrangement for the Benin–Asaba Expressway. The transaction brought together several important institutional actors, including:

– Edo State Government;

– Infrastructure Corporation of Nigeria (InfraCorp);

– Triple A Infrastructure;

– Africa Plus Partners (APP); and

– The Federal Government’s Highway Development and Management Initiative (HDMI).

Under the announced structure, Triple A Infrastructure and InfraCorp were associated with the financing arrangement, while Africa Plus Partners was the concessionaire under the Federal Government’s HDMI framework. Ike Chioke, identified as CEO of Triple A Infrastructure, publicly described the arrangement as a transaction intended to facilitate the complete reconstruction of the Benin–Asaba Expressway under the HDMI concession awarded to Africa Plus Partners.

This is significant because the project was not simply a conventional government-funded road construction contract. It was structured as a long-term public-private infrastructure transaction, bringing together government equity, private capital, concession rights and long-term infrastructure obligations.