Politics
…says N7.5bn per kilometre cost as monumental heist against Nigerians
THE Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) is deeply outraged, alarmed and scandalised by the shocking disclosure made by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is costing Nigerian taxpayers an average of N7.5 billion per kilometre.
To every reasonable and informed observer of global infrastructure economics, this figure is not merely excessive; it represents one of the most controversial and suspicious public expenditure claims in Nigeria’s recent democratic history.
HURIWA strongly condemns what appears to be a reckless, opaque and dangerously inflated spending regime being executed under the administration of Bola Ahmed Tinubu while tens of millions of Nigerians are trapped in multidimensional poverty, mass unemployment, hunger, collapsing purchasing power, insecurity and social despair.
At a time citizens can barely survive rising food prices, unaffordable transportation costs, astronomical electricity tariffs and a collapsing naira, this government is asking Nigerians to quietly accept a road project allegedly costing N7.5 billion for every kilometre constructed.
This is unacceptable.
This is morally offensive.
This is economically provocative.
And this demands immediate independent international scrutiny.
HURIWA therefore calls on all patriotic institutions and civic organisations in Nigeria — including the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigeria Labour Congress, civil society organisations, anti-corruption coalitions, engineers, economists, procurement experts, development partners and transparency advocates — to urgently form a united national accountability coalition to subject the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to comprehensive forensic auditing.
Such an audit must include:
Full disclosure of all procurement processes;
Publication of engineering valuation reports;
Details of project financing agreements;
Loan procurement structures;
Environmental impact assessments;
Tolling concessions and revenue projections;
Compensation and land acquisition costs;
Identities of all contractors, consultants and financial beneficiaries;
Comparative cost analysis with similar international highway projects.
HURIWA insists that the Freedom of Information Act must immediately be invoked to compel the release of every contractual and financial document linked to this project.
The Nigerian people cannot continue to be treated as spectators while public resources disappear behind grandiose infrastructure propaganda.
The association notes with grave concern that countries with far superior infrastructure standards and stronger regulatory systems — including China, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and the United States — routinely deliver major highways at significantly lower comparative costs despite deploying advanced technology, stricter safety systems and more transparent procurement frameworks.
It is therefore impossible for patriotic Nigerians not to question the logic, transparency and integrity of a highway project whose cost profile appears outrageously disconnected from both local economic realities and global infrastructure benchmarks.
Even more disturbing are comments credited to the Minister openly linking federal infrastructure spending to future electoral expectations and political reciprocity.
For a serving minister to publicly imply that regions should politically “repay” the President for executing federally funded projects raises dangerous constitutional, ethical and democratic questions.
Public infrastructure is funded with taxpayers’ money — not personal charity from political office holders.
Federal roads are constitutional obligations of government — not partisan gifts designed to purchase loyalty ahead of elections.
HURIWA warns that Nigerians are increasingly becoming concerned that massive public borrowing, opaque infrastructure financing and aggressive project announcements may ultimately be tied to broader political calculations ahead of the 2027 elections.
The association fears that unchecked public spending without transparent oversight could create dangerous conditions for institutional compromise, political patronage and abuse of state resources.
We therefore call on:
The National Assembly to immediately commence public investigative hearings;
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to monitor all financial flows linked to the project;
The Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) to independently review procurement compliance;
Professional engineering bodies to conduct independent technical evaluations;
International anti-corruption and transparency institutions to monitor the project’s financing structure.
HURIWA further demands that all future disbursements connected to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway be temporarily suspended pending independent forensic review and public accountability hearings.
No democracy can survive when citizens are denied transparency over projects funded with borrowed public money that future generations will repay.
No responsible government should expect applause while Nigerians are buried under economic pain and public debt.
No patriotic citizen should remain silent when questions surrounding one of the most expensive road projects in Nigeria’s history continue to multiply daily.
HURIWA maintains that accountability is not opposition.
Transparency is not sabotage.
Public scrutiny is not hatred.
Democracy demands answers.
Nigeria belongs to the people — not to a political elite treating public funds as instruments of power retention and political dominance. The time for silence is over.
A.I
May 20, 2026
Tags: David Umahi HURIWA