Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway not land grabbing - Umahi

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a project touted as a flagship infrastructure initiative of President Bola Tinubu, has been revealed to lack a unified engineering design. This was disclosed by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, who clarified that the highway, spanning 750 kilometres, is being designed and costed on a section-by-section basis.

Umahi made these remarks during an extended interview on Arise Television, responding to questions about the project's overall cost, construction process, environmental approvals, and government capacity to complete it. The minister emphasized that despite the concept of the highway being gazetted in 2006, no comprehensive engineering design covering the entire route exists in the ministry's archives.

Umahi defended the cost of the first section, stating that a standard two-lane carriageway would cost approximately $5.5 million per kilometre. However, he cautioned against using an average cost to calculate the expense of the entire highway, citing the variation in terrain, bridges, and engineering requirements across different sections.

The minister also clarified that the project, conceived in 1955, has been procured and developed through individual sections, following the Federal Executive Council's approval. This approach, he noted, makes it inappropriate to apply a single average cost across the entire 750 kilometres. He further explained that the difference in road configurations and project specifications should be considered when comparing costs.

The absence of a single design and a comprehensive project cost has raised concerns about the government's ability to establish the total financial commitment and communicate the highway's completion cost to the Nigerian public.