Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, has defended the price of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, arguing that the challenge is cheaper than comparable highway initiatives in Nigeria and internationally when its specs and troublesome terrain are taken into consideration.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News Anchor Ojy Okpe, Umahi rejected criticism of the freeway’s price, saying comparisons needs to be primarily based on equal carriageways and engineering specs moderately than merely dividing the contract sum by the size of the highway.
“I deserve kudos for the cost of the coastal highway,” Umahi stated as he in contrast the challenge with different main highway developments.
Using Section One of the freeway for example, the minister stated the 47.47-kilometre stretch from Victoria Island to Eleko Village had a contract worth of about ₦1.06 trillion, however argued that the determine needed to be assessed towards the variety of carriageways and the in depth infrastructure included within the challenge.
He stated that when the price was normalised to a regular two-lane carriageway, it amounted to roughly ₦7.3 billion to ₦7.5 billion per kilometre, or about $5.5 million on the change charge he utilized in his calculation.
Umahi argued that the determine in contrast favourably with different main highway initiatives, together with the Bodo-Bonny Road, the East-West Road and coastal highway initiatives elsewhere in West Africa.
“You have to compare apple to apple,” he stated, insisting that comparisons which ignored variations in highway width, pavement kind, bridges, drainage and terrain created a deceptive impression of the challenge’s price.
The minister stated the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was being constructed with strengthened concrete pavement and would come with photo voltaic lighting, underground drainage, two-metre walkways, crash obstacles and a hall reserved for a railway line.
He additionally pointed to the in depth floor enchancment required alongside the Lagos part, saying that roughly 30 kilometres concerned the removing of unsuitable materials to a mean depth of about 10 metres, whereas the highway stage needed to be raised by a mean of about 5 metres.
“You remove the pit, average of 10 metres, and then you fill it back,” Umahi stated, describing the engineering work required earlier than the pavement itself could possibly be constructed.
He stated these options wanted to be factored into any significant comparability of the challenge’s price with standard highways constructed on much less difficult terrain.
Umahi additionally cited the altering price of building supplies, saying the worth of concrete had elevated considerably because the contract was awarded with out a corresponding improve within the contract worth.
“When we started, concrete was ₦350,000 per cubic metre. Today, it is ₦460,000 per cubic metre,” he stated. “The contract price has not changed.”
The Works Minister in contrast the Coastal Highway with the Bodo-Bonny Road in Rivers State, in addition to parts of the East-West Road, arguing that their prices demonstrated that the Lagos-Calabar challenge was not unusually costly when assessed on equal engineering phrases.
His defence follows sustained public scrutiny of the challenge’s price. Umahi has beforehand argued that the worth authorized for the Coastal Highway was decrease than comparable initiatives and has repeatedly disputed calculations primarily based on a easy cost-per-kilometre system.
In October 2025, he publicly challenged Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to a debate after the governor questioned his clarification of the challenge’s price.
Umahi stated worldwide financiers had additionally scrutinised the challenge’s pricing earlier than committing funding to it.
He stated Deutsche Bank, which led the financing for Section One, examined the challenge earlier than the financing was syndicated and reached a beneficial evaluation of its pricing and building high quality.
“They said the project was underpriced,” Umahi stated, including that the financing was subsequently “oversubscribed by $100 million.”
Umahi has beforehand made the oversubscription declare publicly, saying worldwide monetary establishments regarded the challenge’s price as aggressive.
He maintained that the price of one part couldn’t merely be extrapolated throughout the complete 750-kilometre freeway as a result of terrain and engineering necessities range considerably alongside the route.
“There are no two sections that are the same,” Umahi stated, arguing that bridges, soil situations and different engineering necessities would finally decide the price of particular person sections.
The minister insisted that when these components have been thought-about alongside the freeway’s specs, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway represented worth for cash moderately than the excessively priced challenge portrayed by its critics.
Demola Ojo
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