Umahi Defends Coastal Highway Redesign Over Engineering Challenges

Works Minister David Umahi has rejected criticism regarding changes to the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway scheme, arguing that route modifications result from engineering assessments rather than project abandonment. Umahi's responses come after social media objections and formal complaints from figures such as former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and legal practitioners challenging reports of a pivot toward prioritizing the East-West Road.

The minister pointed to specific technical barriers in Ondo State when justifying the realignment. Umahi noted that terrain along the original coastal path contains pits deeper than 100 metres and unsuitable ground materials.

Following the original route would have vastly increased project costs, he contended, creating a budgetary rationale for redirecting efforts toward rehabilitating the existing East-West Road network instead. Umahi positioned this choice within President Bola Tinubu's wider infrastructure vision.

Instead of constructing a fully new coastal segment between Ondo and Edo State, the administration plans to modernize and strengthen the pre-existing East-West Road already serving that corridor. The minister presented this strategy as tackling climate resilience and establishing a more durable transport system, contingent on Federal Executive Council sign-off for a supplementary 400-kilometre East-West Road initiative.

Umahi reiterated that work on the core Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway proceeds and exceeds initial pace expectations. The government has not discontinued the coastal initiative but is folding complementary infrastructure efforts into the larger blueprint, he insisted.

His statements endeavor to counter assertions that political motivations shaped route determinations, with Umahi stressing that technical evaluations and cost-effectiveness shaped the revisions.