Akwa Ibom State is set to gain 107 kilometres of the 700-kilometer Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as President Bola Tinubu prepares to flag off Sections 3 and 4, linking Cross River to Akwa Ibom.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, announced this during a stakeholders’ engagement session in Uyo on June 29, 2024, where the alignment of Sections 3B and 4, which will pass through Akwa Ibom, was discussed.
According to the Ministry of Works’ website, Akwa Ibom State will benefit from 27 km of Section 3B, while 38 km of Section 3A will be in neighbouring Cross River State. Section 4, stretching 80 km, will be entirely in Akwa Ibom, bringing the total length of the coastal highway in the state to 107 km.
“We are here to introduce sections three and four of the famous Lagos- Calabar Coastal Highway,” Umahi said.
“That section three has 27km on Akwa Ibom land and 38km on Cross River State. While section four is entirely on Akwa Ibom which is 80km. When you add 27km and 80km, you have 107km, so you are benefiting through maximizing this coastal highway,” the Works Minister added.
Umahi further stated that once the procurement process is completed and Sections 3 and 4 are awarded, construction will begin simultaneously in multiple subsections of these sections.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio attended the stakeholders’ session in Uyo on Saturday as a Special Guest, where he urged Governor Umo Eno to support the coastal highway project and called on the Minister of Works to engage engineers from the state.
Governor Eno, speaking at the event, assured stakeholders of the state’s cooperation with the federal government to ensure the project’s completion.
What you should know
The 700 km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project was awarded to Hitech Construction Company Limited under an Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing (EPC+F) arrangement, with most risks borne by the contractor and the federal government providing counterpart funding.
Construction began in March 2024, starting with the first phase, a 47.7 km stretch within Lagos State. The Minister of Works, David Umahi, had earlier disclosed that Section 2 of the project, starting from Lekki Deep Seaport and ending at the Dangote Refinery, is poised to commence soon.
At the project’s inception in Lagos, concerns were raised by Nigerians, including former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, about the likelihood of the project extending beyond Lagos State.
The Federal Government countered these allegations, assuring that the project would be executed simultaneously across various sections once procurement, approvals, and other relevant processes were complete.
The imminent commencement of Sections 3 and 4 in Akwa Ibom and Cross River States stands as proof of the Federal Government’s commitment to extending the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project beyond Lagos State.