The Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the last general election, Peter Obi, advised the federal government to prioritise existing unfinished projects spread across the country instead of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.
Obi, in a series of posts on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, stated that the project was a misplaced priority given the numerous unfinished roads throughout the country.
The former governor of Anambra State mentioned that the budget allocated to the Ministry of Works is insufficient for significant progress on the country’s various unfinished roads, much less their completion.
Obi therefore advised that the government prioritise the existing infrastructural projects in the country before embarking on any new and colossal projects like the Lagos-Calabar super highway project.
“The Federal Ministry of Works 2024 capital budget of N892,461,262,656.00, additional funding from multilateral loan projects of N94,828,535,243.00, alongside other expected contributions from sources like the China-Exim Bank and the World Bank, will not be enough for serious work on all the critical roads, some of which I enumerated above, let alone their completion.
“So, why embark on another huge project that will not be completed in the next 20 or 30 years?
“To do so will only exacerbate the problem of abandoned, uncompleted projects that are not contributing to economic growth and overall development.
“Therefore, while acknowledging the potential benefits of coastal superhighway infrastructure, I urge prioritisation of our existing uncompleted projects. We must allocate resources towards repairing and completing existing infrastructure.
“In any development formula, the primary focus should be on completing and rehabilitating existing infrastructure rather than embarking on colossal new projects that may never reach completion within the next 30 years,” Obi said.
What you should know
Back in March, Nairemetrics reported that the Federal Government began constructing the 700-kilometer Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway, designed to extend through 9 states with two spurs leading to the Northern States.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, during the official handover of the first phase, which includes a 47.47-kilometer dual carriageway, to Hitech Construction Company Ltd.
Since the announcement, there have been various controversies around the viability and cost of the project.
For instance, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 election, Atiku Abubakar, described as wasteful and a highway to fraud the claim by Works Minister Dave Umahi that the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will tentatively cost N15.6 trillion.
Atiku also berated Mr Umahi for altering the project’s initial plan after Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech had been awarded the contract without any competitive bidding.
He said, “Umahi had announced that Hitech would fully fund the project, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then said that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit.”
