A Nigerian lawmaker was hospitalised in critical condition following a ghastly auto accident on Wednesday. 

Marcus Onobun, representing Esan West, Esan Central and Igueben Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, suffered multiple fractures when a vehicle he was riding in lost control along Ekpoma-Abuja Highway. 

Mr Onobun was travelling from Ekpoma, his hometown, to Abuja when the accident happened, Peoples Gazette learnt. He was promptly hospitalised, and doctors were optimistic he would make a full recovery. 

Crushed remains of the lawmaker’s vehicle, a dark-brown Toyota 4Runner SUV, showed a fully-deployed airbag system, a broken windshield and a compressed roof.

A spokesman for the police in Benin did not immediately return a request seeking comments about the crash. A phone number for the road safety office did not connect on Thursday night. A section of the highway said to have been abandoned by federal authorities after going into disrepair was blamed for the accident.

A member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Onobun was the Speaker of Edo State House of Assembly from 2010 until he was elected to the federal House during the 2023 general elections in February. Encouraging messages were said to have poured in from parliamentary colleagues as the lawmaker continued to fight for his life in an undisclosed medical facility.