Umahi Dismisses Videos of Cracks on Lagos-Calabar Highway, Says It’s Not Structural

•Outlines nationwide emergency road repair projects

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

Minister of Works, David Umahi, has dismissed concerns over a crack spotted along Section 1 of the Lake Oscar Lagos Coastal Highway, stating that it was not a structural defect but a natural effect on the shoulder area, which is yet to be completed.

Speaking during a media briefing in Abuja, Umahi maintained that the reported cracks were on the sand-filled shoulder section, not on the main carriageway.

“That section has not been completed. The crack is on the shoulder, not on the main road. It’s due to water pounding the sand-filled area where we are yet to install underground drainage,” he explained.

The minister clarified that the road is being constructed with multiple safety layers, and part of the current work includes installing buried cable ducts and underground drainage systems.

He urged the public to disregard social media reports claiming structural failure, assuring that “there is no section of the completed carriageway that has cracked, and it will not crack.”

Umahi insisted that the so-called crack was not an issue, maintaining that where it was noticed was the sand-filled section of the shoulder and not the carriageway.

“We also have to put the underground drainage. People even say there is no drainage there, we have underground drainage running 750 kilometers by 2. So, when people build below our road level, because it bears the highest water level of the coast, you can’t blame us for doing that,” he stressed.

According to him, the moment water started pounding on it, it had to erode, urging Nigerians to disregard the misleading videos making the rounds.

Besides, he outlined an extensive list of emergency palliative and reconstruction works across Nigeria, many of which are already ongoing. Among them, he said, are the Third Mainland Bridge and Carter Bridge in Lagos, where restrictions on heavy vehicles have been enforced due to safety concerns.

“We are planting protective gantries before and after critical flyovers to stop over-height trucks from damaging beams, spikes will be installed to physically stop such vehicles from passing”, Umahi said.

In the South-West, he cited major rehabilitation of the Lagos–Badagry Expressway, Ibadan–Ife–Ilesa corridor, and Lagos–Abeokuta road using concrete pavement technology.

He also disclosed that the Ido Bridge is being rebuilt by Julius Berger after structural damage from past encroachment and fire incidents.

Umahi said that President Bola Tinubu had directed the Federal Executive Council (FEC) to source alternative funding for all abandoned or slow-paced NNPC-funded roads nationwide, noting that Tinubu has directed that no NNPC project should stop.

“We have a number of projects that the NNPC helped with. Of course, I continue to say that the north has 53 per cent of those projects, and the south has 47 per cent of those projects,” he explained.

In the South-east and South-south, projects like the Enugu–Onitsha road, Asaba–Benin, and Summit Junction–First Niger Bridge, he stressed, are progressing. Similarly, collapsed bridges in Delta and Bayelsa states are receiving emergency attention, he noted.

For the North-central, North-east, and North-west, Umahi detailed urgent works on the Lokoja–Abuja bridge, Kefi flyover, Katsina–Benue corridor, Kaba–Ekiti road, and Kano–Maiduguri expressway, among others.

“Movement is like oxygen. When roads are cut off, people are imprisoned in their own land. That’s why Mr. President is treating every emergency case with utmost seriousness,” he said.

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Works, Bello Goronyo, commended Tinubu’s commitment to fixing roads abandoned for over four decades. He urged media professionals to verify stories before publishing, warning against narratives that misrepresent the government’s efforts.

“This is a government with an open-door policy. We urge the media to seek clarifications directly from us. Nigeria is our country, and we must work together to build it,” Goronyo stated.