Umahi: Lagos-Calabar highway is Tinubu administration’s best gift to Nigerians
The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has described the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as the best gift of President Bola Tinubu’s administration to Nigerians, saying the project has significantly reduced travel time between parts of Lagos.
Umahi said on Monday that a journey from Epe to Lagos, which previously took as long as seven or eight hours, could now be completed in about 15 minutes along the completed section of the coastal highway.
He spoke at the flag-off of the dualisation of the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode road at the Open Field of Legacy Estate along the Idi Ayunre axis.
“Some people say the Lagos-Calabar Highway leads to nowhere, and I said it’s a pity. Go and ask people in Lagos; go ask even enemies; they will testify that this is the best gift of this administration,” Umahi said.
The minister said the highway had improved access between Victoria Island, Epe and the Lekki deep seaport.
“Before, you are moving from Epe to Lagos; you would spend seven hours. I have once spent eight hours. Today, within 15 minutes, you will move from VI straight down to Epe and to the Lekki Seaport; this is a miracle,” he said.
Umahi also defended the procurement process for the coastal highway amid criticism that the contractor was selected without competitive bidding.
He said the government used special procurement, which he argued was one of the recognised procurement methods, because of the contractor’s experience in marine and coastal construction.
“There are three kinds of procurement: there is special procurement, there is restrictive procurement, and then there is advertisement. And when you are doing special procurement, it is allowed,” he said.
Umahi said Hitech Construction Company was selected because of its previous experience in coastal engineering.
He rejected suggestions that the project had not followed due process, arguing that international financial institutions had shown confidence in the project by supporting its financing.
The minister also dismissed claims that the federal government was prioritising new road projects while neglecting existing roads.
“There is no existing road that we are not working on,” he said. “All the legacy projects that the president is doing, 95 per cent of them are passing through the existing roads that never worked, and the president is working on them.”
President Tinubu was represented at the Ibadan-Ijebu-Ode road flag-off by the Ogun State governor, Dapo Abiodun.
The dualisation project covers a major corridor linking Ibadan in Oyo State with Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State. The route is an important link for the movement of people, agricultural produce, goods and services across the south-west.
The federal government recently approved the project as part of its ongoing road infrastructure programme.