Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State has criticized the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, for evading questions about the cost of the controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, calling on him to be transparent instead of “dancing around” the figures.
Makinde made the remarks on Friday while reacting to Umahi’s heated on-air exchange with Arise TV presenter Rufai Oseni, who had asked the minister to break down the cost of the project on a per-kilometre basis.
The question appeared to irritate Umahi, who dismissed it as “elementary” and accused the journalist of lacking engineering knowledge. He argued that the cost per kilometre varied and could not be easily calculated, asserting, “Keep quiet and stop saying what you don’t know. I’m a professor in this field.”
Governor Makinde, however, sided with the journalist, insisting that Umahi owed Nigerians a clear answer.
“They asked a minister how much the coastal road is, and then you are dancing around saying the next kilometre is different from the next. Then what is the average cost?” Makinde said.
He cited examples from his administration’s projects to illustrate transparency in cost reporting:
“When we did the Oyo to Iseyin road, about 34 or 35 kilometres, it cost around ₦9.99 billion — an average of ₦238 million per kilometre. The Iseyin to Ogbomoso road, 76 kilometres, cost ₦43 billion — about ₦500 million per kilometre — and included two bridges.”
Makinde’s comments add to growing public scrutiny over the true cost and execution of the ₦15 trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects approved under President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
