The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said the total cost and breakdown of the ongoing Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project will be made available to the public on Friday in Lagos.
The former governor of Ebonyi State disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Abuja through his Special Adviser on Media, Orji Uchenna.
Umahi noted this in reaction to concerns raised by a former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar over the costs and bidding process of the 700km coastal highway project.
SaharaReporters reported on Monday that Atiku had questioned President Bola Tinubu's administration for awarding the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company Limited “without any evidence of competitive bidding or a decision by the Federal Executive Council (FEC)”.
Atiku claimed that the award was cloaked in mystery because Umahi declined to reveal the contractual amount involved in the project.
He also asked why the Tinubu administration released N1.06 trillion for the pilot phase of the project, which begins at Eko Atlantic and is expected to terminate at the Lekki Deep Sea Port, a distance of 47.47km.
“But if 47.47km costs about N1.06tn, it means each kilometre is being built at N22.5 billion or $18 million. For a project that is going to be 700km, it means the total cost could be N15.7 trillion or $12.56 billion, which is higher than previous estimates,” Atiku said.
But reacting to the concerns raised, the minister berated the former Vice President, noting that he “doesn’t understand figures”.
He said, "I am going to run figures for him to understand, and he will understand how prudent the administration of President Tinubu has been. He will understand how prudency is taking centre stage in this administration."
He, however, explained that despite the soaring costs of materials in the construction industry due to commodity price inflation and supply chain disruptions, the ministry is committed to prudence, cost-effectiveness, promptness, and quality delivery of road projects.
"The President has once queried me on the cost of ongoing projects nationwide," he revealed. "I had to analyse every basic rate of construction materials to arrive at our unit rates. I showed it to Mr. President. He still thinks I should bring down the cost of projects.”
He noted that contractors have been complaining that he is “oppressing them so much by reviewing the costs of their projects downwards."
He said, "They lamented that what they were getting before, they are no longer getting it now. They cried out. But when I run the figures, Nigerians will see what this present administration is doing.
“So, I’m not here to run the figures now. I will do that in a press conference on my visit to Lagos from April 10, 2024 to April 12, 2024.”
The former Ebonyi governor, who spoke during his inspection visit to the ongoing rehabilitation of the Enugu-Port Harcourt dual carriageway, insisted that analysis made on the coastal road project figures and the economic importance of the highway project was totally misrepresented.
He said, “I will tell you the economic benefits of the project and how the coastal road is tying the entire country together.
“It’s not tying just South-South and South-West. It is tying the North and South together.
“We are starting a project from Badagry to Sokoto, and we have a spur on this coastal route to that route and the African Trans Sahara Road that is passing from Enugu to Abakaliki to Ogoja to Cameroon which has a spur to the North.
“His Excellency, former Vice President Akitu Abubakar, may not know that the third section of the project is starting in Calabar by July 2024.”
Commending the pace and quality of work on the projects he visited, he expressed the need for the contractors to heed the project delivery timeline.
He stated that the reinforcement of the East-West Road Section III was very good, adding that "the concrete is very good, the speed is not very good, so they have to increase their speed".
Umahi warned that "if RCC doesn’t increase their pace, I will take out a portion of this road and give it to another contractor. We will not want contractors to stay on a job like this 15 km dualisation for two years or more.”