The Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi has disclosed that there over six court cases against the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway, but assured that the federal government will not be deterred.
Umahi stated this on Thursday during a press briefing marking his one year in office, noting that the project went through restrictive procurement, and the federal government has been paying compensation to affected owners of structures along the right of way.
Speaking on the legal cases against the project, Umahi said, “That is the beauty of democracy, and under the guise of democracy we have some fraudulent individuals who want to rip where they did not sow. We have not just one court case, we have over six, but we are equal to the task.
“They want to socket their pipes and that is all that they are doing. We are paying compensation, we are following the gazetted right of way; we are following the corridor that is legally allowed for federal government. So, we don’t know what they are taking to court. We have ESIA certificate on the project and the project is listed in 2023 supplementary budget”.
He explained that the budget and project are different.
“The project was approved by the FEC under restrictive procurement and it is in the law. They will come to naught because what they thought we didn’t have, we have it. If they want to unduly benefit from the project, they will not,” he added.
The minister further stressed that the current administration inherited over 4,000 projects which are being executed despite paucity of funds whose funding gap is estimated at N16trn.
He added that the 2025 budget focuses on four projects per zone targeted to be completed and commissioned by President Bola Tinubu in 2025.
He said, “The present administration inherited a total of 18,932.50km of ongoing projects with a total of 2,064 number of contracts.
“The total value of all the ongoing projects as at May, 2023 was ₦14,424,982,425,616.40, amount certified, ₦4,734,849,328,306.77, amount paid N3,122,628,914,427.12, amount owed contractors for certified works was ₦1,612,220,413,879.65.
“The funding gap to complete all the inherited projects is about
₦13trillion as at May, 2023 and will be more than N16 trillion when all projects are reviewed in line with current market
realities,” he said
Engr Umahi explained that due to the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the Naira, though it is a very sound economic decision of this administration, and considering the fact that some of the projects have lingered for between 5 to 18 years, the projects are being reviewed to match with current market
realities.
“This position excludes all the new projects under the Renewed
Hope Agenda and the Four (4) Legacy projects,” he said
He lamented that the poor funding of Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) was responsible for the poor maintenance of federal roads.
“Poor funding of highway projects, which include under-funding of FERMA for effective road maintenance. The Agency was allocated N52bn in 2024 for capital projects, which is grossly inadequate to maintain the existing 36,000km of the Federal Road Network,” he said.
He also lamented high rate of public destruction of road infrastructure (drainages, bridge parapets, bridge decks, burning of tires on the road, indiscriminate parking, cutting of road, dumping of refuse on road median/drains.
Speaking further, he said the Federal Government has created a conducive atmosphere for tolling of Nigerian roads with the creation of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and approval of the Tolling Policy.
He reiterated that the four legacy projects will serve as catalyst for economic growth “with the 24 hour approval, on demand, by state governments to construct federal roads and use federal Ministry of Works HDMI programme to toll the road for mutual benefits of states and the federal government”.
He continued, “Where funds are available, contractors could be paid 30% mobilisation and more funds approved for them under strict conditions to mitigate incessant project fluctuations as is the practice in some states of the federation”.
Umahi said the government is focused on maintenance and rehabilitation to ensure that the road Projects are sustainable, reducing the need for costly repairs and ensuring that the benefits are long-lasting.