Lagos-Calabar coastal highway to cost N4bn/km – Umahi  

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said that the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway is to be constructed at a cost of N4 billion per kilometer.

During a television program with TVC on Wednesday in Lagos, Umahi made this known, stating that the cost per kilometer is N4 billion. The project, which is said to be 700 km, will be completed at a cost of N2.8 trillion.

The minister refuted allegations that the project didn’t adhere to proper procurement procedures, clarifying that the contract was granted based on counter-funding rather than through a Public-Private Partnership as claimed.

In response to recent criticism from Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general election, regarding the purported awarding of the contract to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech without competitive bidding, the minister challenged President Bola Tinubu’s administration to disclose the full cost of the Lagos-Calabar highway project.

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Abubakar also questioned why the Tinubu administration allocated N1.06 trillion for the pilot phase, constituting six percent of the project, which spans from Eko Atlantic to the Lekki Deep Sea Port.

However, in a statement issued on Tuesday, Umahi countered these concerns by explaining that despite the escalating costs of construction materials due to commodity price inflation and supply chain disruptions, the ministry remains committed to fiscal prudence and pledged to disclose the actual project cost.