THE Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has criticised the Minister of Works, David Umahi, over his handling of questions regarding the cost of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
Speaking in a viral video today, Makinde faulted Umahi for “dodging” a straightforward question about the project’s cost per kilometre, following the minister’s heated on-air exchange with Arise TV presenter, Rufai Oseni.
During the interview earlier in the week, Oseni had asked Umahi to break down the cost of the highway by kilometre.
However, the minister dismissed the question as “elementary,” saying road costs vary and cannot be simplified. He added that payments for the project were being made based on verified work done, urging Oseni to “keep quiet” and stop discussing what he “did not understand.”
Reacting to the incident, Makinde said Umahi’s response was unnecessary and evasive.
“They asked a minister how much the coastal road costs, and instead of giving an answer, he started dancing around it,” Makinde said.
“When we constructed the Oyo-Iseyin road, it cost about ₦9.99 billion for roughly 35 kilometres—around ₦238 million per kilometre. The Iseyin-Ogbomoso road, which spans 76 kilometres, cost ₦43 billion—an average of ₦500 million per kilometre, including two major bridges. So why is it difficult to give an average cost for this project?”
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, stretching over 700 kilometres and cutting across nine states with two northern spurs, was approved by President Bola Tinubu last year.
The project’s first phase—47.47 kilometres of dual carriageway—is being executed by Hitech Construction Company Limited using concrete pavement.
Umahi, during the project’s handover ceremony, emphasised that contractors handling federal road projects must deliver promptly, warning that delays would not be tolerated after mobilisation funds had been disbursed.
The Oyo governor’s remarks have reignited public debate over the transparency and cost efficiency of one of Nigeria’s most ambitious infrastructure projects.