6 Court Cases Against Lagos-Calabar Highway Won’t Deter Us – Umahi

The Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi has said there are over six court cases against the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway but assured that the federal government will not be deterred.

The Minister stated this yesterday during a press briefing marking his one year in office.

He said the project went through restrictive procurement, and the federal government has been paying compensation to affected owners of structures along the right-of-way.

Speaking on the legal cases against the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway, he said, “That is the beauty of democracy, and under the guise of democracy, we have some fraudulent individuals who want to rip where they did not sow.

“We have not just one court case—we have over six—but we are equal to the task. They want to socket their pipes, which is all they do. We are paying compensation, we are following the gazette right of way, and we are following the corridor that is legally allowed for the federal government, so we don’t know why they are taking it to court. We have an ESIA certificate on the project, and the project is listed in the 2023 supplementary budget”.

He explained that the budget and project are different. “The FEC approved the project under restrictive procurement, which is in the law. They will go nuts because we have what they thought we didn’t have; if they want to benefit from the project unduly, they will not,” he added.

He said the current administration inherited over 4000 projects, which are being executed despite the paucity of funds, whose funding gap is estimated at N16trn.

The Minister added that the 2025 budget focuses on four projects per zone, targeted to be completed and commissioned by the President in 2025.

He said, “The present administration inherited a total of 18,932.50Km of ongoing projects with a total of 2,064 number of contracts.

He continued, “The total value of all the ongoing projects as of May 2023 was ₦14,424,982,425,616.40, the amount certified, ₦4,734,849,328,306.77, the amount paid N3,122,628,914,427.12, the amount owed contractors for certified works were ₦1,612,220,413,879.65.

“The funding gap to complete all the inherited projects is about N13 Trillion as of May 2023 and will be more than 16Trillion Naira when all projects are reviewed in line with the current market realities,” he said

He explained that “due to the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the Naira, though it is a very sound economic decision for this administration, and because some of the projects

have lingered for between 5 and 18 18years; consequently, the projects are being reviewed to match the current market realities.

“This position excludes all the new projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda and the Four (4) Legacy projects,” he said.

He lamented that the poor funding of FERMA was responsible for the poor maintenance of federal roads.

“Poor funding of highway projects, including underfunding FERMA for effective road maintenance.

The Agency was allocated N52bn in 2024 for capital projects, which is grossly inadequate to maintain the existing 36,000km of the Federal Road Network,” he said.

He lamented the high rate of public destruction of road infrastructure (drainages, bridge parapets, bridge decks, burning tyres on the road, indiscriminate parking, cutting of the road, dumping of refuse on road medians/drains).

Umahi said inflation has also affected the execution of highway projects, which requires review to reflect current realities.

He said the Federal Government has created a conducive atmosphere for the Tolling of Nigerian Roads by creating the ICRC and approving the Tolling Policy.

He reiterated that the four legacy projects will catalyse economic growth “with the 24-hour on-demand approval by State Governments to construct Federal.

Roads and use the Federal Ministry of Works HDMI programme to toll the road for the mutual benefit of States and the Federal Government. “

He continued, “Where funds are available, contractors could be paid 30% mobilisation and more funds approved under strict conditions to mitigate incessant project fluctuations, as is the practice in some States of the Federation.”

Umahi said the government focuses on maintenance and rehabilitation to ensure that road projects are sustainable, the need for costly repairs is reduced, and the benefits are long-lasting.