Coastal highway: APM demands procurement, payment records

From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja

The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) Presidential Campaign Organisation has demanded the immediate publication of procurement and payment records for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, alongside a comprehensive audit of the project’s cost and expenditure.

It also called for an independent engineering assessment of the highway’s realignment in Ondo State and disclosure of the government’s plans for completing the project.

Director-General of the Makinde-Daura Presidential Campaign Organisation (MDPCO), Felix Hyat, made the demands at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, saying although Nigeria urgently needed infrastructure, it did not need “opaque contracts and expensive excuses.”

Hyat said the announcement by Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, on the realignment had renewed concerns about the project’s planning, engineering assessment, transparency and accountability.

He accused the minister of denying an earlier announcement that President Bola Tinubu had directed the realignment, despite what he described as video evidence.

“It is appalling that Minister Umahi, in a desperate bid to contain the gathering storm of public outrage, brazenly denied his earlier announcement of a Presidential directive to realign the highway despite overwhelming video evidence of that announcement. Such denial is unbecoming of a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” he said.

Hyat argued that the government should be judged by the public benefits of its projects, rather than the scale of its announcements.

“While we have nothing against the construction of roads in any part of the country, it is important to state that the afterthought realignment of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is an admission of technical incompetence, failure of proper planning and gross underestimation of the project’s engineering challenges,” he said. He questioned the minister’s explanations concerning climate change and environmental challenges, alleging that the administration had embarked on the project without the required statutory environmental impact assessment.

“We urge Nigerians to judge this latest development against the troubling circumstances surrounding the project’s conception and award in 2024, which came without an approved engineering design, without transparent, open and competitive bidding process as required by the Public Procurement Act 2007 and without any budgetary provision and statutory appropriation by the National Assembly,” he said.

Hyat also questioned the financial implications of redirecting the highway to an existing road, saying the government should disclose any resulting reduction in cost.

He criticised what he described as a ₦15 trillion commitment to the project while existing federal roads remained in poor condition, leaving motorists stranded and causing economic losses.

“The controversies surrounding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway have reached a punitive reckoning, a point where accountability can no longer be deferred,” he said.

“We demand that the President Tinubu-led government should publish the relevant engineering assessment, alternative-route analysis, accompanying cost implications and comprehensive audit of the work and amount so far spent.”

Hyat said verifiable records were necessary to address public concerns and allegations surrounding the contract, including claims that it was intended to finance the All Progressives Congress’ election expenses.

“Nigerians are tired of official assurances without verifiable evidence, particularly against the backdrop of allegations that the contract, from inception, was designed as a conduit for financing APC’s election expenses. These serious allegations demand transparency, not evasive explanations.”