The allegations of political manipulation surrounding the owners of Landmark by Works Minister Umahi serve as a reminder of the complexities and challenges inherent in the intersection of politics and infrastructure development.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has again attacked a former Vice President of Nigeria, Abubakar Atiku, over the former Nigerian leader’s position on the controversial Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, describing him as misguided.
In a long treatise signed by Umahi’s spokesman, Uchenna Orji, on Tuesday, the minister alleged that Atiku’s thoughts on the 753-kilometre road, which the Bola Tinubu administration says will connect the South to the North, were mostly driven by political calculations.
The former vice president had on more than two occasions raised questions over the opacity surrounding the project, the alleged flouting of the procurement law and the conflict of interest in the award of the multi-trillion naira project to a company owned by a friend of the president.
On May 6, Atiku doubled down on his criticism of the highway, revealing that Seyi, the president’s son, is actually a member of the board of CDK Integrated Industries, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, which owns Hitech Construction, the company handling the project.
“Such viewpoints are false analogies, conceived by the fertile imaginations of the former vice president and which are clearly superficial, hypocritical, diversionary, and undoubtedly motivated by ambitious political calculations.
“These accusations or rather, viewpoints, are, to say the least, intrinsically superficial, baseless, self-serving and politically motivated to imprint malice in the minds of unsuspecting members of the public, especially the gullible,” Umahi insisted.
He highlighted that the argument by Atiku and other ‘desperate persons’ were thoroughly trashed when he (Umahi) gave insights into the award process, the unit cost comparisons, the project review dimensions, the demolition notices and compensation plans as well as those affected by the demolition.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project complied 100 percent with the provisions of the Procurement Act and was awarded based on the Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Financing (EPC+F) procurement process, that is to say, the project is an unsolicited bid done on EPC+F.
“Under this model of procurement, the investor provides all the designs, part of the financing and construction, while the federal government pays counterpart funds. The bid of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project came through this process.
“The ministry received the bid, worked on it, and sent the same to the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP).
The BPP worked on it in accordance with the stipulations of the Procurement Act and came up with a competitive price slightly lower than the ministry’s price and even lower than the cost of similar projects awarded five years ago, including the Bodo-Bonny project awarded to Julius Berger Nigeria Plc.
“The BPP issued a certificate of ‘No Objection’ on the project to the Federal Ministry of Works as required by the Procurement Act. Consequently, the Federal Ministry of Works took the certificate of No Objection to the Federal Executive Council (FEC), and the FEC deliberated on and approved the same,” Umahi stated.
Umahi recalled that the FEC had first approved the project model on EPC+F before the process of procurement even started, emphasising that it was a testament that the section 1 of the project followed due process.
He insisted that the claim of the former vice president that the son of the president has interest in CDK Integrated Industries Ltd was not tenable as the company that did bid for the project was Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Ltd which has a full legal personality.
“Again, this claim is nothing but a digression showing absolute frustration of a false accuser who is bereaved of facts to substantiate his claims,” Umahi maintained.
The statement said that Umahi has within the shortest period in office, saved billions of Naira in the review, redesign and award of contracts, stressing that the former vice president and others who share in his ‘misguided views’ can testify to it.
It stated that Umahi had come up with a new and higher dimension of the project of which the design, dimension and concept were reviewed upward by the ministry and yet the cost was drastically reduced downwards.
The project, which was by the analysis of the former vice president put at a cost of about N8.552 billion per km of standard gauge, was meticulously and judiciously reduced to about N4.329 billion per kilometre gauge by the minister under the new design and concept.
“The old concept and design relied upon by the former Vice President has a 52-metre corridor with asphalt, whereas the new concept as reviewed by the minister has a 100-metre corridor with a total concrete pavement of 59.2 metres and increased size of 10 lanes and a provision for 25 metres for train track,” it added.
He argued that the road standard used by the former vice president in his analysis cannot stand the test of time because of the high water table at the coastal area, noting that the quality of road design and construction by the current administration for the coastal road is such that it will last for 50 to 100 years.
“In this regard therefore, it will not be immodest to state that the former vice president displayed the highest level of hypocrisy and was out to mislead and brainwash the unsuspecting members of the public, especially the gullible, for selfish political reasons,” the minister added.
On the Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), he stated that there was a preliminary approval issued in December 2023 by the Federal Ministry of Environment and the same renewed in January 2024.
“ESIA certification is progressive with the project’s progress and final certificate issued when all issues are resolved. This means that the Federal Ministry of Works has a certified ESIA to start the project.
“ Even the Federal Ministry of Environment has confirmed this position in their recent press release, whereof they stated, among others, that Preliminary Impact Assessment certification was issued for site clearance and scoping for compensation,” he added.
He added that the process of ESIA involves constant stakeholders’ engagement, with Umahi even participating in two of the meetings in Lagos which were broadcast live “to buttress his sense of transparency, openness, probity and accountability”.
Umahi accused the owners of Landmark Beach of allowing themselves to be manipulated by politicians, after he allegedly acknowledged the efforts of the minister.
“It need not be over-emphasised that the relevant notices were issued and this led to a seamless compensation process achieved without rancour, except in the case of the owner of Landmark whose psyche was manipulated by politicians moments after he appreciated the efforts of the minister in ensuring minimum damage to properties on the right of way for which he acknowledged that he had no valid title in favour thereof,” the statement noted.
He stated that although the project was conceptualised partly at the time by Atiku when he was the vice president of the country, successive administrations failed to execute it because of lack of political will.
“This super highway will trigger economic boom, raise the GDP, create greater tourism potential, create wealth and job opportunities, attract wider Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), boost coastal businesses, trade and market development, and promote industrialisation, especially along the coastal corridors with far-reaching impact on the social-economic activities and safety along the feeder routes and spurs,” he argued.
