The Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Thursday confirmed that the government is constructing the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway at a total cost of N4bn per kilometre.
The minister however, denied the earlier claim by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that the project would gulp N8bn per km.
Umahi’s latest revelation indicates that the total project will be completed at the cost of N2.8trn.
The minister also dismissed claims that the project didn’t follow the due procurement process, stating that the contract was awarded on a counter-funding basis and not on a Public-Private Partnership as widely claimed.
Umahi, who appeared as a guest on the Television Continental News Hour programme on Wednesday in Lagos, insisted that each kilometre of the coastal road would cost N4b but said the government’s prudence made that possible.
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Last week, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general election, Atiku Abubakar, questioned President Bola Tinubu administration’s decision to allegedly award the contract to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech without competitive bidding, daring the president to disclose the full cost of the Lagos-Calabar highway project.
He also wondered why the Tinubu administration released N1.06tn for the pilot phase, or six per cent of the project, which begins at Eko Atlantic and is expected to terminate at the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
However, in the interview, Umahi confirmed that the project would be completed within eight years, stating that with the use of concrete pavement on the four-lane carriageway, the project costs N4bn per km.
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He also explained that although N1.06tn was appropriated, the full amount had not been disbursed.
There are also plans to recoup the money via tolling, according to the minister.
“In 15 years, you make back the money,” he said, dismissing calls that the cost budgeted for the road was high.
He said there will be security at the toll gates and also some facilities like filling stations.