Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has criticised the Minister of Works, David Umahi, for failing to provide a clear breakdown of the cost of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
Makinde made the comment while reacting to a recent on-air exchange between Umahi and Arise TV presenter, Rufai Oseni, who had asked the minister to explain the cost of the 700-kilometre project on a per-kilometre basis.
In a viral video that surfaced on Friday, Makinde said there was no reason for Umahi to “dance around” the figures, stressing that Nigerians deserved transparency on such a multi-billion-naira project.
“They asked a minister how much the coastal road costs, and you’re dancing around, saying the next kilometre is different from the next kilometre. Then what is the average cost?” Makinde queried.
The governor compared the highway to road projects executed in Oyo State, providing specific cost analyses to demonstrate accountability.
“When we did the Oyo to Iseyin road, it was about ₦9.99 billion — almost ₦10 billion — for 34 or 35 kilometres, with an average cost of about ₦238 million per kilometre.
For Iseyin to Ogbomoso, that was 76 kilometres at about ₦43 billion, giving an average of ₦500 million per kilometre. And that included two major bridges — one over the Ogun River and another at the Ogbomoso end,” Makinde explained.
Makinde’s remarks came after Umahi engaged in a heated exchange with Oseni earlier in the week.
The minister had dismissed the journalist’s inquiry as “elementary,” insisting that the cost per kilometre could not be uniform because of varying terrains and construction requirements.
Umahi, who described himself as a “professor of practice in engineering,” told Oseni to “keep quiet” during the interview, insisting that the journalist lacked technical understanding of road construction.
However, Makinde defended Oseni’s line of questioning, saying public officials must be ready to provide straightforward answers to taxpayers.
“When you are managing public funds, you owe the people clarity and accountability,” the governor said.
The Federal Government had last year commenced work on the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which spans nine states and includes two spurs leading to northern routes. The first phase — 47.47 kilometres — was awarded to Hitech Construction Company Limited for execution using concrete pavement.
Umahi, during the handover ceremony, had emphasized that contractors must deliver on schedule and warned that delays would not attract payment variations.
