Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has weighed in on the ongoing controversy surrounding the cost of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project approved by President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking at an event in a viral video on Friday, Makinde faulted the Minister of Works, David Umahi, for being evasive about the project’s actual cost, urging him to be transparent instead of “dancing around the figures.”
His comment followed a heated on-air exchange between Umahi and Arise TV presenter, Rufai Oseni, earlier in the week. Oseni had asked the minister to provide a breakdown of the project’s cost per kilometre, a request Umahi dismissed as “elementary” and “unnecessary.”
Umahi, who described himself as a “professor of practice in engineering,” argued that costs vary across different segments of the project and that such questions showed ignorance of engineering processes.
“Keep quiet and stop saying what you don’t know,” Umahi said during the exchange. “You have no knowledge of what you’re asking. The prices differ from one kilometre to another.”
Oseni, however, stood his ground, replying, “Minister, it’s alright—keep dignifying yourself and let the world know who you truly are.”
Defending Oseni’s question, Makinde said it was reasonable to ask for an average cost per kilometre. He cited examples from Oyo State road projects to back his point.
“When we did the Oyo–Iseyin road, it was about ₦9.99 billion for roughly 35 kilometres—about ₦238 million per kilometre,” Makinde said. “For Iseyin–Ogbomoso, 76 kilometres cost ₦43 billion, averaging ₦500 million per kilometre, and that included two bridges.”
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway spans 700 kilometres across nine states, with two additional spurs connecting northern routes. The first phase—47.47 kilometres of dual carriageway—is being handled by Hitech Construction Company Limited using concrete pavement.
According to the Ministry of Works, contractors have been instructed to deliver within record time as the government would not tolerate delays or cost variations once mobilization has been completed.
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