Nigeria’s Works Ministry says East-West Road reconstruction is an additional project and will not replace the 750km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
By: Ganiyu Olayinka
The clarification follows public concerns over statements by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, about plans to align parts of the coastal highway with the existing East-West Road in the Niger Delta.
In a statement titled “Disclaimer on the Realignment of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway,” the ministry said President Bola Tinubu had not directed that the coastal highway be discontinued in favour of the East-West Road.
The statement, signed by Engr Musa Saidu, Director of Highway Bridges and Design, said the proposed reconstruction of approximately 400 kilometres of the East-West Road was an additional project to be executed alongside the coastal highway.
According to the ministry, sections of the East-West Road have suffered severe pavement damage and are vulnerable to flooding, necessitating reconstruction and improvements to address the challenges.
It maintained that the additional work would not affect the completion of the original 750-kilometre dualised coastal highway.
What Triggered the Controversy?
The debate followed Umahi’s remarks about President Tinubu’s directive concerning the continuation of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway through parts of the Niger Delta.
During a briefing on the Federal Government’s infrastructure projects, the minister said the continuation of the coastal highway would be aligned with the existing East-West Road in some areas.
The remarks raised questions about whether the original coastal highway alignment was being altered and whether the project would be replaced by the reconstruction of the existing road.
Umahi subsequently rejected claims that the Federal Government had abandoned the coastal highway, insisting that the project remained intact.
The ministry’s clarification sought to distinguish between the original coastal highway project and the additional reconstruction of the East-West Road.
Coastal Highway Construction to Continue
According to the ministry’s statement, work is ongoing on several sections of the coastal highway within the Niger Delta region.
These include Sections 3A and 3B covering Cross River and Akwa Ibom, Sections 4A and 4B covering Ogun and Ondo, and Section 5 in Akwa Ibom.
The statement said surveying and design work was continuing on the remaining sections from the end of the Ondo axis through Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states, connecting with Section 5 in Akwa Ibom.
It added that procurement and construction of the outstanding sections would commence after the necessary surveying and design work had been completed, beginning from the end of the Ondo axis.
The ministry also compared the additional East-West Road reconstruction with another extension to the Federal Government’s Akwanga-Jos-Bauchi-Gombe-Biu-Maiduguri highway project, which it said had increased from approximately 700 kilometres to 1,100 kilometres of dualised road.
What the Clarification Means
The ministry’s position is that the two road interventions are intended to proceed alongside each other: the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway remains a 750-kilometre dualised project, while the East-West Road reconstruction is an additional intervention.
However, the clarification does not remove the need for clear public information about the precise alignment of the coastal highway, the sections that will use existing road corridors, construction timelines and the costs of the additional works.
Providing detailed project maps and updated implementation schedules would help the public assess how the two projects will connect and what they mean for communities along the route.
For now, the ministry maintains that the additional East-West Road reconstruction will neither replace the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway nor prevent its completion as originally proposed.
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