Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: I’m vindicated by Umahi’s admission on difficult terrain

Says Diri’s dismissal of concerns politically motivated
Insists redesign confirms engineering, cost questions

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By Beifoh Osewele

Presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, has said that Minister of Works Dave Umahi’s acknowledgement of difficult terrain and the redesign of sections of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway have vindicated his concerns about the project.

Duke, in a statement by his Personal Assistant, Emeka Okpragu, yesterday, said the minister’s explanation has confirmed the engineering difficulties he earlier raised, faulting Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri for dismissing those concerns as politically motivated.

“I have been vindicated on the difficult terrain concerns I raised earlier. The minister supervising the project has acknowledged difficult ground conditions and explained why sections had to be redesigned. That is the substance Governor Diri should address,” Duke said.

“If the terrain were as straightforward as his response suggests, why did the minister consider a detour necessary? Why did difficult subsoil conditions become a justification for changing sections of the alignment?”

The Bayelsa governor had rejected Duke’s assessment of the coastal highway, citing roads and bridges already constructed across Bayelsa’s swampy terrain as evidence that the project was achievable.

In a statement issued by his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, he had declared: “So, he is wrong. The Lagos-Calabar coastal road is buildable and possible.”

His response followed Duke’s earlier interview, during which he questioned the practicality and cost of taking the highway through parts of the Niger Delta.

“You cannot even go through Bayelsa. Bayelsa is swamp. Even Yenagoa, the capital, is swamp. You will probably have to build about 100 or 200 bridges to go through those swamps,” Duke had said.

He also argued that government should give greater attention to rehabilitating existing infrastructure.

“There is already a road to Calabar. I’ve driven from Lagos to Calabar several times. If the road is poor, fix it,” he said.

But Duke said Diri’s response failed to address the substance of his argument, insisting that his concerns went beyond whether a road could technically be built across swampy terrain.

“Governor Diri’s examples do not dispose of those questions. A road can be technically possible and still require serious examination of its cost, financing and priority. Listing roads built across swamps does not tell Nigerians what the entire coastal highway will ultimately demand,” he said.

Umahi subsequently acknowledged construction difficulties along the Ondo section of the highway, saying engineers had been forced to alter the alignment.

“We had to take a very serious engineering decision by making a detour, redesigning it to avoid such a route,” the minister said.

The Federal Ministry of Works, in its account of Umahi’s 7 October briefing, said sections of the alignment were redesigned because of difficult terrain, deep pits and challenging subsoil conditions.

It also said President Bola Tinubu directed that the highway’s continuation be aligned with the existing East-West Road in parts of the Niger Delta.

Duke said the explanations substantially reinforced the warning he had issued.

“These explanations give substance to my warning. The minister has described the ground conditions that informed his engineering decisions. Governor Diri cannot answer my concern merely by assigning political motives to them.”

“The minister has also questioned the expectation that construction across difficult terrain should cost the same as construction on normal ground. That brings us directly to the financial implications I raised.”

Umahi later maintained that the full coastal highway remained intact and described the proposed reconstruction of the East-West Road as an additional project.

Duke, however, said that assurance did not invalidate the minister’s acknowledgement of the engineering difficulties confronting the project.

“My vindication concerns the terrain challenges I highlighted. An assurance that the project will proceed does not make those challenges disappear.”

“Governor Diri is entitled to support the highway. But he should engage the questions about design, cost and priorities. The people of the Niger Delta deserve development, and they deserve clear answers about the resources committed to delivering it.”