Public Money Deserves Clear Plan – Atiku’s Aide Tackles Umahi Over Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway

The media aide to the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar, Paul Ibe has questioned the Minister of Works, David Umahi over the construction of the 750km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.

Naija News reports that Umahi had earlier disclosed that the highway was being designed and costed section by section.

Reacting in a statement on 𝕏, Ibe questioned why the construction of the project began without a single engineering design covering the entire project.

He said the concern was not that different sections required different designs, but whether the government had a coordinated plan, credible funding arrangements and a clear completion timeline for the entire project.

Ibe challenged the government to disclose its current cost estimate, the amount already committed and funded, and when the highway would be completed.

“Mr Minister, publish the coordinated route plan, sectional designs and costs, procurement records, environmental approvals, compensation obligations and financing arrangements,” he wrote.

He also questioned the commencement of construction under provisional environmental approval while assessments continued section by section.

Ibe said the government could not take credit for the entire highway while offering sectional explanations when asked to account for it.

“Nigerians are not asking every kilometre to look alike. We are asking the government’s explanations to add up,” he said.

He added: “Public money deserves a clear plan not a moving target.”