The Federal Government expects to complete the 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway within three years, Works Minister David Umahi has said, projecting delivery around 2029 if construction proceeds as planned.
Umahi gave the projection during an interview on Arise Television on Friday, October 23, 2026, while defending the administration’s infrastructure priorities and the procurement process for the coastal highway.
Asked when the entire highway would be completed, the minister said the government was working towards delivering the project within the next three years.
“We have four years plus by God’s special grace. So we are looking at three years,” he said.
Umahi expressed confidence in President Bola Tinubu’s administration, linking his completion forecast to his belief in the President’s ability to deliver the project.
“I’m a child of God. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. Okay, so I’m giving you the faith I have and the president that I know, that I believe that within the next three years plus, the president will be able to complete that project,” he added.
However, the minister did not provide a detailed construction timetable or specific completion dates for individual sections of the highway.
Umahi Defends Procurement Process
The minister also defended the Federal Government’s decision to award the project without public bidding, insisting that the direct procurement process complied with the law.
“There was no public bidding, but there was direct procurement. It’s within the law. That’s all I’ve just said,” Umahi stated.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is one of the Tinubu administration’s flagship infrastructure projects. It is designed to improve transportation along Nigeria’s southern coastline and connect communities across the country’s coastal corridor.
The project has attracted public debate over its procurement process, cost, financing and the government’s decision to prioritise new infrastructure while several existing federal roads remain in poor condition.
