Umahi Denies Personal Interest in N15trn Coastal Highway Project

• Minister Umahi dismisses controversy surrounding Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, emphasizing completion goal and funding structure on television platforms
• Tensions escalate as Umahi and Atiku Abubakar exchange criticisms over project’s propriety, costs, and alleged contractor-political figure connections

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, under scrutiny recently, faces controversial dismissal by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi.

Umahi clarified on television platforms that the project, estimated at N15.356 trillion, aims for completion within eight years. Contrary to popular belief, he emphasized that the contract’s basis is counterpart funding, not a public-private partnership.

Tensions rose as Umahi and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar exchanged criticisms regarding the project’s propriety, costs, and alleged connections between contractors and political figures.

Atiku’s recent statement labelled the project as “a highway to fraud,” citing procedural irregularities in its awarding.

Umahi during his appearance on Channels TV’s “Morning Brief” yesterday, simply said “I’m not aware of that”, when asked to explain the alleged connection between the contractor, Hitech, the Chagoury Group and President Tinubu.

When prodded further during another appearance on Arise News’ “Morning Show”, the works minister said, “I won’t have much to say because you can’t place something on nothing.”

According to him, “When you said that the project is about personal interest, there is a contradiction there because the former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said that the Jonathan administration wanted to do that project and put a cost at about $12 billion. So, whose interest was that administration promoting and wanting to do the project?” Umahi asked.

“And then, you now come again and said that the Buhari administration renegotiated on I think $11.1 billion; whose interest was the administration promoting? I think they wanted to do that project; I think he may be right in saying that there is a difference between the Federal Ministry of Works and the NDDC (Niger Delta Development Commission). But it is all the federal government’s project. So, there is actually a design from the NDDC but I can’t confirm the costing. But I want to take its cost to run figures. I am here to run figures. That is about that issue of personal interest,” he said.