Umahi Reveals When Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Will Be Completed

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has disclosed  that the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be completed within three years.

Naija News reports that Umahi disclosed the possiblity of the road being completed around 2029 during an appearance on Arise Television.

He defended the Federal Government’s decision to prioritise major projects amid concerns over the condition of existing federal roads across the country.

The minister also acknowledged that the coastal highway was awarded without public bidding, insisting that the direct procurement process was lawful.

“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 750km highway would be completed, Umahi said the government was working towards delivering it within three years and beyond.

“We have four years plus by God’s special grace. So we are looking at three years,” he said.

Asked whether he was confident that the entire Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway would be completed within that period, the minister linked his projection to his faith in Tinubu’s administration.

“I’m 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, the president will be able to complete that project,” he added.

However, Umahi did not provide a detailed construction timetable or specify completion dates for individual sections during the interview.

Defending the government’s infrastructure priorities, Umahi said about 17,000 kilometres of roads were being reconstructed or constructed under his ministry, apart from 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 constructing 17,000 kilometres of roads presently,” he said.

He added that the ministry had completed about 1,700 kilometres of roads since the administration came into office, alongside more than six kilometres of flyovers, bridges and underpasses.