Umahi says Tinubu did not direct award of Lagos-Calabar highway contract

Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said President Bola Tinubu did not direct him to award the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to Hitech Construction Company, amid continuing controversy over the contract’s procurement and funding. Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Umahi said he took full responsibility for choosing the contractor. He rejected suggestions that the project was awarded because of a relationship between Tinubu and Hitech’s owner, Lebanese-Nigerian businessman Gilbert Chagoury.

“The president never asked me to give it to Hitech,” Umahi said, adding that the decision was his responsibility. He also dismissed claims that the project was being used for money laundering by the administration. The minister defended the use of a special procurement process, saying Nigerian law allowed several procurement methods.

He said restrictive selective tendering could be used for urgent projects, with companies assessed through the Bureau of Public Procurement before commercial bidding. Umahi said Hitech was selected because of its previous work in Lagos, particularly efforts to address coastal erosion and restore Victoria Island. He said the company’s experience had informed the decision to use it for the coastal highway.

He also argued that National Assembly approval was required for the government’s borrowing plan, not for the procurement itself. The project, he said, was therefore not required to go before lawmakers as part of the contracting procedure. Umahi said the government was building hydraulic channels and service lanes along the route.

The channels would move water from the ocean side of the corridor towards the lagoon, while the service lanes were intended to improve access for people with properties in the area. He said some existing drainage channels were blocked or inadequate. The minister said the highway was expected to last between 50 and 100 years with low maintenance.