Minister defends direct contract award, cites 17,000km of ongoing road projects and warns of worsening congestion along Lagos-Lekki corridor…….
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said the Federal Government is targeting the completion of the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway within the next three years, a timeline that could see the project delivered around 2029.
Umahi disclosed this during an interview on Friday, where he defended the Tinubu administration’s infrastructure agenda amid concerns over the deteriorating condition of several existing federal roads.
The minister also defended the decision to award the coastal highway contract without a public bidding process, maintaining that the government adopted a direct procurement method permitted by law.
“There was no public bidding but there was direct procurement. It’s within the law. That’s all I’ve just said,” he stated.
Asked when the entire 750-kilometre highway would be completed, Umahi said the government was working towards delivering the project within the next three years, noting that the administration still had more than four years to run, by God’s grace.
“We have four years plus by God’s special grace. So we are looking at three years,” he said.
When pressed on whether he was confident that the entire highway could be completed within the projected period, the minister expressed confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s leadership and the administration’s ability to deliver the project.
“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.
Although the projection points to a possible completion around 2029, Umahi did not provide a detailed construction schedule or specific delivery dates for the different sections of the highway during the interview.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is one of the Federal Government’s flagship infrastructure projects, designed to link coastal communities and improve transportation along Nigeria’s southern coastline.
However, the project has attracted public scrutiny over its contract award process, cost, funding and the government’s spending priorities, particularly as motorists continue to grapple with poor road conditions across several parts of the country.
Responding to concerns about the state of federal roads, Umahi said the Ministry of Works was undertaking extensive construction and rehabilitation projects beyond the administration’s major legacy infrastructure schemes.
According to him, approximately 17,000 kilometres of federal roads are currently under construction or reconstruction out of the country’s estimated 35,000 kilometres of federal road network, excluding the 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.
The minister further disclosed that about 1,700 kilometres of roads had been completed since the current administration assumed office, alongside more than six kilometres of flyovers, bridges and underpasses.
Umahi also pointed to the growing pressure on the Lagos transport corridor as a reason for developing the coastal highway, warning that traffic congestion could become increasingly severe without additional infrastructure.
He specifically highlighted the stretch connecting the Lekki axis, cautioning that traffic could grind to a standstill within the next five years if urgent measures were not taken to improve movement along the corridor.
“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.
Meanwhile, the minister addressed the controversy surrounding plans to engage 4,000 social media influencers to publicise the administration’s projects, insisting that the initiative would be funded personally rather than with public money.
Umahi said the proposed campaign was intended to increase awareness of the Federal Government’s achievements nationwide and support efforts to promote Tinubu’s administration.
“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.
The minister’s projection has placed renewed attention on the delivery timeline of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, with the proposed 2029 completion date likely to remain a key measure of the Federal Government’s ability to execute one of its most ambitious infrastructure projects.
