The Federal Government has addressed concerns over the exclusion of the Lagos-Calabar Highway from the 2025 budget.
The coastal road, one of the signature projects of President Bola Tinubu which has generated a lot of controversy since its commencement last year, is expected to gulp around N16 trillion.
Questions have been raised about the funding of the project which the federal government hitherto stated would be through a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
In February of last year, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved a N1.07 trillion contract for the construction of the first phase of the project.
The Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi disclosed that the pilot phase covers a 47.47-kilometre dual carriageway of five lanes on each side and a train track in the middle.
The minister disclosed that FEC at its October 30 meeting approved the procurement of the project under the EPC+F (Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing) and in favour of High Tech Construction African Limited.
Umahi said, “They already have started searching for the funding, but hitches here and there. And so, the ministry had to go back to Mr President to ask for two things, and that was on January 18. We asked, Can we fast-track this?
“Since this project was going to be procured in two phases and multiple sections, can we get the federal government to fund phase one, which is what is 47.47 kilometres running from Ahmadu Bello in Lagos down to Lekki Deep Seaport? Mr President graciously approved.
“Today, we have procured the first section, which is 47.47 kilometres, under 10 lanes and FEC graciously approved the contract for N1.067tn with no objection.”
In December, last year, Umahi further disclosed that some sections of the highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway would be commissioned by May 2025.
However, the source of funding of the project remains unclear as there was no mention of the project in the 2025 budget.
The Federal Ministry of Works has a total capital allocation of N1,065,171,466,605 in the 2025 budget proposal.
Recently, a review by BudgIT, a civic tech foundation, said the proposed 2025 budget breakdown submitted to the National Assembly for review and approval made no provision for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, a capital-intensive infrastructure project.
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It explained that the omission of funding for the coastal road implies that if funding for the project materialises, it will likely necessitate reallocating funds from other critical projects, potentially hindering their implementation and impacting the budget’s credibility.
The organisation further observed that the budget omitted the breakdown of some MDAs, commissions, and councils, such as the National Judicial Council (N341.63 billion), and TETFUND (N940.5 billion).
According to the group, some of the projections in the budget were unrealistic even as it faulted the failure of government to provide a breakdown of the budget of some ministries, departments and agencies.
BudgIT noted that in previous years, it identified several budgetary insertions made by the National Assembly that deviated from the federal government’s constitutional mandate and priorities while such projects were assigned to MDAs “that have neither the capacity nor the mandate to implement the inserted projects.”
The group noted that in 2021, it observed that 5,601 capital projects were added to the Appropriation Bill during the review process by the National Assembly. In 2022, it increased to 6,462 projects across 37 mother ministries and 340 MDAs, while in 2024, 7,447 insertions amounting to a staggering N2.24 trillion were found in the budget.
“While the constitution grants the National Assembly the authority to appropriate funds, it often modifies the executive’s proposed budget to distort its original intent and disconnect it from the nation’s long-term development agenda.
“Many inserted projects usually lack proper conceptualisation, design, and cost estimation, undermining their effectiveness and feasibility. We believe that the legislature must exercise this power with the utmost responsibility. This responsibility, which cannot be overstated, entails ensuring resource efficiency, eliminating waste, and aligning budgetary decisions with the nation’s long-term economic development goals,” BudgIT said.
Minister clarifies omission
However, breaking silence of the issue for the first time, Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi during a visit to the project site of Section 1 (Abuja-Kaduna) of the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Road Project, said the Lagos-Calabar Coastal High was included in the 2025 budget against the reports making round.
In a viral video sighted by Intel Region on Friday, the minister said; ““The Lagos-Calabar Coast Road will be funded, it was a typographical error, they wrote Lagos – Port Harcourt Coastal Road instead of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road in the budget.”
