Umahi: Northeast Included in Tinubu’s Legacy Projects Amid Senate Concerns
The Northeast has not been excluded from President Bola Tinubu’s administration’s legacy projects, Minister of Works Dave Umahi reassured stakeholders during an engagement in Lagos on Sunday.
Speaking at the event, which focused on Phase One and Phase Two of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Umahi addressed concerns raised in the Senate about the distribution of key infrastructure projects. He specifically highlighted the administration’s fourth legacy project, which spans Akwanga, Jos, Bauchi and Gombe, partially funded by the China Exim Bank.
He stated:
“Let me first start by discussing the fourth legacy project of Mr. President. I watched a motion on the floor of the Senate where the motion was alluding that out of the four legacy projects of the President, none is for the Northeast.
“We have a fourth legacy project of Mr. President that is running from Akwanga. It goes to Jos and from Jos, it goes to Bauchi and to Gombe states.
“It is being funded partly by the China Exim bank, but we came to a point of conflict because the president directed that the road should be redesigned on concrete and it should also be six lanes. That is, three lanes per carriageway.
“They said we cannot do three lanes per carriageway; so, we intend to do a public engagement with stakeholders in the Northeast to discuss.
“It is either we convince the bank to agree to the directive of Mr. President or we agree on four lanes for the two carriageways.’’
The minister emphasized that all four legacy projects were distributed across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. He also disclosed that each of these projects included a train track for enhanced transportation connectivity.
Umahi further discussed the progress of other major road projects, including the Badagry-Sokoto Highway, initially conceptualized during the Shehu Shagari administration. Tinubu’s government, he noted, has decided to start the project from Sokoto, extending down to Badagry.
Construction has already commenced on a 120-kilometer section in Illela, Sokoto State, featuring three lanes on each carriageway. Plans are also in place to expand the 258-kilometer section in Kebbi to six lanes. Procurement for the second phase of the Badagry-Sokoto Highway is expected to begin in March.
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Additionally, Umahi highlighted the ongoing work on the Trans-Saharan Highway, which connects Ebonyi to Sokoto. He revealed that efforts were being made to complete 10 kilometers of concrete road in Sokoto and Kebbi states by mid-May, ahead of its scheduled inauguration.
He also underscored the environmental benefits of using concrete for road construction, noting that it reduces heat emissions and allows Nigeria to earn carbon credits.
With these developments, Umahi reassured stakeholders that the Northeast remains an integral part of Tinubu’s infrastructure agenda, despite previous concerns raised in the Senate.
