Minister of Works, David Umahi, has warned that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway may not be completed if President Bola Tinubu fails to secure a second term in the 2027 presidential election.
Umahi made this statement on Friday during an exclusive interview on Arise Television.
He described the 750-kilometre highway as a personal initiative of the President that requires continuity to be completed.
According to the minister, Tinubu’s return to power is crucial to the completion of the coastal highway and other major road projects across the country.
He said, “If President Tinubu does not come back in 2027 (God forbid), the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be gone.
“The 750-kilometre coastal highway is intact and cannot be changed, and nobody has the powers to change it, because it’s already designed and it’s ongoing.”
Umahi also dismissed reports that the coastal highway had been abandoned in favour of the East-West Road.
He explained that Tinubu had approved the reconstruction of an additional 400 kilometres of the East-West Road, stretching from Edo State to Cross River State, alongside the coastal highway.
The minister said the President directed that the coastal highway should follow the existing East-West Road corridor rather than create new routes.
He attributed the change in alignment to the difficult terrain in Ondo State, explaining that construction pits in the area are more than 100 metres deep and that sharp sand is unavailable up to a depth of 300 metres.
