Umahi Projects Completion Of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Within Three Years
By Sabiu Abdullahi
Minister of Works David Umahi has projected that the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be completed within the next three years.
Umahi made the projection during an interview with Arise Television on Friday, saying the Federal Government was working towards delivering the major infrastructure project before the end of President Bola Tinubu’s current term in 2031.
Asked about the completion timeline, the minister said, “We have four years plus by God’s special grace. So we are looking at three years,” he said.
He expressed confidence in the administration’s ability to meet the target, citing his faith in Tinubu’s leadership.
“I am a child of God. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Okay, so I’m giving you the faith I have and the president that I know, that I believe that within the next three years plus, that the president will be able to complete that project,” he added.
However, Umahi did not provide a detailed construction schedule or specific completion dates for the highway’s individual sections.
The minister also defended the procurement process for the project, acknowledging that it was awarded without public bidding but insisting that the government followed a lawful procedure.
“There was no public bidding but there was direct procurement. It’s within the law. That’s all I’ve just said,” he stated.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is one of the Federal Government’s flagship infrastructure projects. It is designed to connect coastal communities and improve transportation along Nigeria’s southern corridor.
The project has attracted public debate over procurement procedures, construction costs, funding priorities and the allocation of public resources, particularly amid concerns about the poor condition of several existing federal roads.
Defending his ministry’s broader infrastructure programme, Umahi said approximately 17,000 kilometres of federal roads were currently under construction or reconstruction, excluding major legacy projects.
“Out of about 35,000 kilometres of our federal roads, the one that is before me in the Ministry of Works, if you remove the few legacy projects we are constructing, we are presently constructing 17,000 kilometres of roads,” he said.
He added that the ministry had completed about 1,700 kilometres of roads since the Tinubu administration assumed office, alongside more than six kilometres of flyovers, bridges and underpasses.
Umahi also cited increasing congestion along the Lagos corridor as a reason for the coastal highway, warning that traffic could worsen significantly without intervention.
“In the next five years, unless something is done in the corridor VI to Lekki, it becomes, you know, a car park because of the conjecture. And that’s why we are building the seven taxi route,” he said.
On the controversy surrounding a proposed plan to engage 4,000 social media influencers to promote the administration’s projects, the minister said he would personally finance the initiative rather than use public funds.
“I am funding 4,000 influencers to advertise what the president is doing and it’s a catalyst for campaigning for him all over Nigeria,” he said.