Daily lens Report
Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has faulted the Federal Government’s handling of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, questioning why the Minister of Works, David Umahi, has refused to disclose its detailed cost.
Speaking in a viral video from an event on Friday, Makinde, himself an electrical engineer, said there was no justification for the minister’s evasiveness over a project approved by President Bola Tinubu.
“They asked a minister how much the coastal road is, and you’re dancing around it, saying the next kilometre is different from the next. Then what’s the average cost?” Makinde queried.
His comments came days after Umahi’s heated exchange with ARISE News presenter Rufai Oseni, who had pressed him to reveal the cost of the 700-kilometre coastal highway on a per-kilometre basis.
An apparently irritated Umahi dismissed the question as “elementary,” insisting that the project’s pricing was complex and “not something journalists could understand.”
“Keep quiet and stop saying what you don’t know,” the minister snapped. “I’m a professor in this field. You have no knowledge of what you’re asking.”
In response, Oseni maintained his composure, saying, “Minister, it’s alright, keep dignifying yourself, and let the world know who you truly are.”
Makinde, however, sided with the journalist, stressing that public projects must be transparent. He cited examples from his administration’s road constructions, detailing costs per kilometre to illustrate that such information is both calculable and should be public.
“When we did the Oyo–Iseyin road, it cost about ₦10 billion for roughly 35 kilometres — about ₦238 million per kilometre,” he said. “The Iseyin–Ogbomoso road was 76 kilometres at ₦43 billion, roughly ₦500 million per kilometre, and it included two bridges.”
The Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, announced in 2023, is expected to stretch across nine states, with two additional spurs linking to northern regions. The first 47.47-kilometre phase has been handed over to Hitech Construction Company Limited, and according to Umahi, will be built using concrete pavement technology.
Makinde’s remarks have reignited calls for greater accountability and cost transparency on what is one of Nigeria’s most ambitious infrastructure projects in decades.
