Lagos-Calabar highway has no single engineering design – Umahi

The 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a flagship infrastructure project under President Bola Tinubu's administration, has not been designed and priced as a single entity, according to the Nigerian Minister of Works, David Umahi. The project, which began construction in March 2024, has been designed and costed section by section due to differences in terrain, bridges, and engineering requirements across the route.

Umahi confirmed that there is no comprehensive engineering design or subsoil investigation covering the entire highway, which has raised questions about the project's overall cost, environmental approvals, and completion. He defended the cost of the first section, stating that it would cost about $5.5m per kilometre for a standard two-lane carriageway, based on comparisons with a similar project in Benin Republic.

However, he cautioned against using an estimated average cost to calculate the entire project's cost, as the terrain, bridges, and engineering requirements vary across sections. Umahi also clarified that the project was conceived as early as 1955, with the concept gazetted in 2006, but the absence of a single design or detailed technical documents further complicates the understanding of the project's scope and costs.