ISSUES IN THE COASTAL HIGHWAY PROJECT
The project must conform to minimum standards of transparency and accountability
The controversy over the actual cost per kilometre of the Lagos–Calabar coastal highway has refused to go away with Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, raising his own posers. Questioning the estimated figures being touted by the Works Minister, David Umahi who recently told an ARISE Television anchor that he is a “professor” of practice in engineering whose words should be taken as law, Makinde said the minister was only “dancing around” the issue of cost. Meanwhile, the only response that has come from Umahi is to claim being Makinde’s “senior both in governance and in engineering practice”, while the question of accountability and transparency surrounding the project remains unanswered.
As stated in a recent editorial, the 700-kilometre costal highway project, designed to connect Lagos State to Cross River State through the coastal states of Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom has high potential investment value. However, the process through which the contract was awarded, and the funding plan have continued to elicit controversy regarding transparency and accountability. In May this year, President Bola Tinubu commissioned the first 30 kilometres of the project, all within Lagos State.
When the project was first announced two years ago, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general election, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, questioned the propriety of awarding such a huge contract without meeting the minimum threshold of due procurement process of competitive bidding. In a series of statements, Atiku challenged the federal government to disclose the total cost of the highway project. He also questioned the release of N1.06 trillion for the pilot phase, or six per cent of the project, which begins at Eko Atlantic and terminates at the Lekki Deep Sea Port. The former vice president estimated that, excluding the designed train tracks in the middle, the project would cost taxpayers a whopping N8 billion per kilometre.
While refuting Atiku’s allegations at the time, Umahi said the contract was awarded based on a counter-funding rather than Public-Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement. Umahi likened the coastal project to that of Abuja-Makurdi being handled by China Harbour, and the road project in Enugu State where the government is paying 50 per cent counterpart funding. Both, according to Umahi, fall under Engineering, Procurement, Construction plus Finance, (EPC +) which requires equivalent funding from both the government and the contracting company.
However, Umahi’s defence also contradicted his earlier statement of September 2023 that it would be by PPP. The minister claims that the type of infrastructure to be installed on the road would determine the cost, adding that coastal roads built on swampy areas are more expensive due to water challenges, soil condition and other engineering inputs. He put the cost of the highway project tentatively at N15 trillion, about N4 billion per kilometre, although he failed to be categorical about what the total figure would be.
There is no doubt that the coastal road is a laudable project. When completed it will impact positively on the national economy, particularly on the Lagos end. But the silence from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) is also very telling. For a project of this magnitude, the BPP should play a critical role, especially with the claim by Umahi that it was approved by the Federal Executive Council where due process ought to have mattered. As hard as the minister has tried, it appears that the controversy over the Lagos-Calabar highway contract will not go away. What most people are saying is that federal government projects and spending must conform to minimum standards of transparency and accountability. And this issue must be addressed in public interest.
