File picture of David Umahi (with Renewed Hope cap) addressing the press
The Network for the Actualisation of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD), a public procurement advocacy group, has criticised David Umahi, the minister of works, for presenting a 30-kilometre stretch of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway as completed and ready for inauguration.
In a statement signed by Akingunola Omoniyi, its country head, the group said it is “deeply concerned” that such a short segment — just four percent of the total 750-kilometre project — is being portrayed as a significant milestone.
“The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a 750-kilometre unbroken contract, meant to serve as a transformative infrastructure corridor across Nigeria’s coastal region,” the statement reads.
“To commission just 30 kilometres while the rest remains under construction is premature and misleading.”
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NEFGAD warned that politicising infrastructure delivery would erode public trust in government, adding that project inauguration should reflect substantive completion and usability of the entire project or at least a major functional section.
“The minister must be mindful of the kind of precedent this action sets,” the group said.
“If left unchecked, this could normalise the commissioning of uncompleted or partially completed projects across the country — turning what should be moments of national progress into mere photo opportunities and political theatre.”
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The group also cautioned against putting undue pressure on President Bola Tinubu to inaugurate projects yet to be completed.
“Government is a continuum. Mr Umahi should know that it is not possible for an administration to finish the business of government to the extent of thinking that all projects initiated must be completed during a tenure,” NEFGAD said.
“President Tinubu himself met projects initiated by previous administrations, completed and inaugurated them.”
The organisation called on the president to insist on transparency and accountability in project delivery.
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“The people deserve full value for every public infrastructure initiative — not staged ceremonies that paper over incomplete work,” it said.
NEFGAD urged the ministry of works to recommit to credible milestones, uphold project integrity, and ensure that future commissioning is tied to real, completed achievements — not fragments dressed up as finished products.
This is an AI-assisted report
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