Presidency Insists Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Will Follow Original Route
The Presidency has dismissed reports suggesting that President Bola Tinubu ordered the abandonment of sections of the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that the project will be completed along its original alignment.
The clarification followed public concerns over comments by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, that the existing East-West Road would be used in parts of the Niger Delta instead of constructing an entirely new coastal highway route.
In a statement published on its official X handle, the Presidency said the reconstruction of 400 kilometres of the East-West Road, stretching from Edo State to Cross River State, was an additional infrastructure project and would not replace or alter the original coastal highway plan.
According to the statement, parts of the existing East-West Road are vulnerable to flooding due to climate change, while sections of its pavement have deteriorated significantly, making reconstruction necessary.
It maintained that the additional project would run alongside the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, dismissing suggestions that some states and coastal communities would be excluded from the original route.
The Presidency also disclosed that construction was ongoing on several sections of the coastal highway. These include Sections 3A and 3B in Cross River and Akwa Ibom states, covering 75 kilometres of dual carriageway; Sections 4A and 4B in Ogun and Ondo states, covering 65 kilometres; and Section Five in Akwa Ibom State, spanning 62 kilometres.
It added that surveying and design activities were continuing on the remaining sections, covering the stretch from the end of the Ondo axis through Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states before connecting to Section Five in Akwa Ibom.
The government said procurement and construction of the outstanding sections would begin after the completion of the survey and design exercises, starting from the end of the Ondo axis.
To support its position, the Presidency cited the additional 410-kilometre Wukari-Langtang route approved by Tinubu under the Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri highway project.
It explained that the additional route expanded the planned dual carriageway from 700 kilometres to 1,100 kilometres without affecting the project’s original alignment.
The statement stressed that the same approach would apply to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the East-West Road reconstruction, adding that additional projects would not alter the original plans for the federal government’s legacy infrastructure initiatives.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a major federal infrastructure project designed to connect Lagos with Calabar through Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers and Akwa Ibom states.
The project has attracted public attention following Umahi’s remarks about incorporating the existing East-West Road into the route in parts of the Niger Delta, raising concerns about its implications for coastal communities and economic centres along the corridor.
However, the Presidency’s latest clarification did not provide a detailed map showing how the coastal highway would connect with the reconstructed East-West Road in the affected areas.
It urged Nigerians to disregard what it described as misinformation, reaffirming the administration’s commitment to completing the projects as originally planned.
