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Overview

Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway to be tolled from December – Umahi

  David Umahi, minister of works, has announced that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will be tolled starting in December 2025, with the federal government projecting a 10-year return on investment from the ambitious infrastructure project.

Umahi revealed this in a feature interview for an upcoming State House documentary commemorating President Bola Tinubu’s second year in office.

He said over 80 per cent of Section 1 of the highway, spanning 47.47 kilometres from Ahmadu Bello Way to the Lekki Deep Sea Port and ending at Eleko Junction, has already been completed.

Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, in a statement released on Tuesday quoted Umahi as saying, “By December, we will toll Section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. We project a 10-year return on investment. The road has solar-powered lighting and CCTV infrastructure and offers carbon credit advantages. It is more than a road—it is an economic corridor and a catalyst for regional growth.”

He added that 30 kilometres of Section 1 have been fully constructed, with another 10 kilometres in Section 2, which runs from Eleko Junction to the Lagos-Ogun border, nearing completion. Both sections are six-lane, concrete-paved highways designed to boost connectivity and drive economic expansion.

The minister also provided updates on three other federal infrastructure projects: the Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, the Trans-Saharan Trade Route, and the soon-to-be-procured Ogun-Ondo-Niger Corridor. According to him, these projects are central to unlocking Nigeria’s economic potential and enhancing regional integration.

On regional politics, Umahi said all governors in the South East are fully in support of Tinubu, regardless of political affiliation. He called on opposition figures from the region, especially Peter Obi, Labour Party’s presidential candidate in the 2023 election, to join forces with the president.

“All the governors in the South East, regardless of party affiliation, are working with the President,” he said. “We’re even planning a summit to bring together all South-East leaders to endorse the President for the 2027 elections formally.”

He continued, “Leadership is not about self—it’s about the people. If someone else is already doing what you would have done for your people, support him. I call on my brother, His Excellency Peter Obi, to join us and work with Mr. President.”

Umahi claimed that under Tinubu, the South East has begun to experience renewed federal attention and infrastructure development. He cited multiple projects such as the Port Harcourt-Enugu, Enugu-Abakaliki, Enugu-Onitsha, and Onitsha-Owerri roads, as well as the Second Niger Bridge.

“The Igbo man is enterprising and blessed with God-given wisdom. What Ndi Igbo seek is fairness, a Nigeria that treats every zone equally. That is what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing,” Umahi said.

He added that with ongoing federal projects in Ebonyi and other southeastern states, the long-standing cries of marginalisation are beginning to fade.

“Today, the South East has a Minister of Works for the first time, and we’re seeing real projects. The President has already paid 30 per cent of the cost of the Second Niger Bridge,” he said.

https://businessday.ng/news/article/lagos-calabar-coastal-highway-to-be-tolled-from-december-umahi/