The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has dismissed concerns over a visible crack on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that it is not a structural failure.
At a press conference held in Abuja on Wednesday, Umahi revealed that he had received over 500 messages from Nigerians expressing concern about the integrity of the road project.
“I have gotten over 500 concerns about a crack they noticed at the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Section 1. And I was wondering whether they’re sending it in good faith, or they’re sending it to mock me to say, look at the project you’re proud of, looking at what is happening. Let me tell you that nothing is happening. Nothing!”
According to him, the affected section is not yet completed, and the crack appeared on the shoulder, not the main carriageway.
“Absolutely, it’s not an issue at all. That section has not been completed. Section 1 is 47.47 kilometres by six. And so you have the main carriageway, you have the shoulder, and so where you notice the crack is some huge section of the shoulder, and not the carriageway with stone base, where we are not presently working on.”
“So ladies and gentlemen, that thing is not a structural failure at all.”
He urged the public to disregard social media reports exaggerating the situation.
“I want the society to disregard that, you know, social media circulation, and to be assured that work is ongoing. In fact, I directed them to go and close these places. So it’s not an issue at all.”
“Disregard it. And there is no section of the completed carriageway that has cracked, and it will not crack.”
Umahi also disclosed that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has stopped funding road projects under the tax credit scheme as of August 1, creating a ₦3 trillion shortfall for the Ministry of Works.
Despite this, he assured that no ongoing project under the scheme would be abandoned.
“And for me, he is our President, you know, is a man with a large heart who decided to do that. So, now, we have NNPCL stopping the funding of the projects since the 1st of August. And so, we tabled the matter to FEC, in the last FEC on Thursday.”
“And Mr. President, sitting as the Chairman of the Federal Executive Council, FEC, directed that we should provide another means of funding the project, and to complete it.”
“So, let me announce that Mr. President directed that no NNPCL project should stop, and that an alternative funding mechanism will be put in place to do it.”
“Like I said, NNPCL projects where we need a total of N3 trillion to have them totally completed. So we have compiled them.”
Umahi also warned incompetent contractors to stay away from road projects of such magnitude.
“When we go into the exercise, we not leave the fate of our people in the hands of anybody that wants to play games, playing games to believe that along the line, the federal government will bring money to them, or that they will default, and then they will do call up option, whereby they go to take money from Federal Government.”
The Minister announced plans to install gantries with spikes beneath flyovers to prevent damage from overloaded trucks, especially following recent damage to the Keffi flyover and others along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
“We have a couple of them between Lagos and the Ibadan Bridges, completed in the last administration, but some of the beams have been knocked down. And the beams are the structural elements that are carrying the slab.”
“So when the beam is knocked down, it means that it’s not safe. So for some of such bridges, we have closed them down to vehicular movements, and we are very concerned. It is difficult to moderate these overloaded vehicles.”
“So what we have decided to do is to plant a gantry before the end of the flyover and after the flyover. And of course, we have directed that instead of the engineering mandatory 5.6-metre headroom, which is the design standard, we are increasing beyond the standard to 6.5, to accommodate very undisciplined commuters.”
“This gantry is that if you are 6cm lower than the bottom of every beam in every flyover and we are going to have spikes. If you are coming and then you are overloaded and touch the beams to bring them down. That spike will bring you down first. It will bring down your windscreen and the load so the bridges will be safe.”
