*Defends Landmark Beach Demolition, Challenges Owner To Produce Certificate Of Occupancy
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Minister of Works, Engineer David Umahi, in a wide-ranging television interview, addressed the cost structure of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the demolition of structures at Landmark Beach, the award of the project to Hi-Tech Construction, allegations of sexual harassment and the deaths of a staff member and NDLEA/NAN engineers under his watch, as well as his position on the 2027 presidential race and Peter Obi.
Umahi, who served two terms as Governor of Ebonyi State from 2015 to 2023 before his appointment as Minister of Works, rejected the widely circulated figure of N15 trillion for the entire 750-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, insisting that nobody has the right to calculate an average cost per kilometre and multiply it across the full stretch. He said: “Let me also clarify that nobody has the right to do an average cost and multiply by 750 [kilometres].” He questioned who arrived at the N15 trillion figure, saying it was being “brandished” without basis.
Walking through the cost of Section One, a 47-kilometre stretch, Umahi said the comparison being made on social media between the Lagos-Calabar project and the Benin Republic coastal highway was flawed, since the Benin project (47.5 kilometres, costing N1.06 trillion) came to roughly N22.5 billion per kilometre for three lanes of a single carriageway, which, when divided for a standard two-lane carriageway, would come to about 7.3 billion naira, or roughly $5.5 million. He insisted that Nigeria’s own Section One was being built to a higher, six-lane, first-of-its-kind-in-West-Africa standard.
He maintained there is no single, approved engineering design covering the entire 750-kilometre stretch, explaining that the project was only gazetted as a concept in 2006, after first being mentioned in 1955, and that each section requires its own Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), soil investigation and engineering design before construction proceeds. “It is very wrong for anybody to say give me the cost of the project because there must be engineering [done in] the section, in every section that you are going through,” he said.
Asked about criticism that construction began in March 2024 before a full ESIA was approved, Umahi confirmed that only a provisional ESIA certificate was issued before work started, which he described as standard practice, adding that a final ESIA certificate is issued only after a section is substantially completed, given that associated programmes such as resettlement continue to evolve during construction. He confirmed that a full ESIA for the completed Section One has since been issued and given to the interviewer.
Umahi addressed apparent contradictions in his earlier public statements, in which he had, on one occasion, said President Bola Tinubu had personally directed a diversion of the coastal highway through the East-West Road in Edo State, before later describing it, in Niger State, as an addition of 400 kilometres rather than a realignment. He said describing it as a “diversion” was “a slip of the tongue,” insisting the correct description was a “spur” connecting to the existing East-West Road, which forms part of the original nine-state 2006 concept covering Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River. He said the East-West Road component, previously funded through the NNPC before funding was halted, has now been brought under the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Fund on the President’s approval, with design work ongoing.
Umahi strongly defended the demolition of structures at Landmark Beach, insisting that only shanties, not permanent structures, were destroyed, despite the interviewer’s assertion that hotels were demolished. He said the Supreme Court had vested responsibility for 250 metres from the shoreline in the Federal Government, and challenged the Landmark CEO, Paul Onwuanibe, to produce his Certificate of Occupancy for the land. He alleged that Onwuanibe had been collecting money from shanty operators at the beachfront without remitting tax to the Federal Government, and said his legal team would sue Onwuanibe if he continued “deceiving the public.”
Responding to Onwuanibe’s claim of losing about N42 billion to the demolition, Umahi challenged him to produce evidence of his bank account, the taxes paid on the claimed investment, and the bank where the funds were warehoused. He said affected small businesses operating shanties were enumerated and compensated, and claimed traditional landowners in the area had endorsed the demolition.
Pressed on criticism, including from ADC presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar, over the absence of competitive bidding for the project and Hi-Tech’s ownership by Gilbert Chagoury, described as close to President Tinubu, Umahi denied that President Tinubu sits on Hi-Tech’s board. He confirmed, after repeated questioning, that there was no public advertisement and no competitive bidding for the coastal highway contract, but said the project followed “direct procurement,” a method he described as lawful under the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) framework for specialised engineering challenges. He said the choice followed Hi-Tech’s demonstrated experience managing erosion along the Eko Atlantic coastline, after the company and its chairman, Roland, initially expressed reluctance over the risk of being “liquidated” undertaking the ocean-taming works, and that the Federal Executive Council subsequently approved direct procurement, done in sections, following a BPP evaluation and certificate of no objection.
Umahi projected that the full 750-kilometre coastal highway will be completed within three years, describing this as a matter of faith in President Tinubu’s second term in office, which he said would run “four years plus” from the current point.
Responding to criticism that his ministry prioritised the coastal highway and other legacy projects over the rehabilitation of dilapidated federal roads, Umahi said that, excluding the legacy projects, the ministry is presently working on 17,000 kilometres of roads out of about 35,000 kilometres of federal roads nationwide, having completed over six kilometres of flyovers, bridges and underpasses and about 1,700 kilometres of road since assuming office. He defended the legacy projects as investment-driven, financed roughly 30 percent by the Federal Government and 70 percent by loans, arguing they connect to and enhance the value of existing road networks, including the planned Seven Taxi Road linking the coastal highway to the Dangote Tax Credit deep sea port corridor.
Addressing an accusation by businesswoman Tracy Orji that he sexually harassed her, Umahi dismissed the claim as “laughable,” insisting he had never met her before an encounter at a police station in Abuja. He alleged the matter was linked to a financial dispute between Orji and content creators she had engaged to support her campaign, after she reportedly received $70,000 from one of his friends to aid her “rehabilitation.” He said two cases involving Orji are ongoing, one in Ebonyi State and one in Abuja, and that he would withdraw them if she could produce evidence of prior communication, quotations or correspondence supporting her claims. He said the only document she produced was his official portrait as a former governor, still displayed at the Ministry of Works.
On the 2021 disappearance and killing of engineers supervising the African Development Bank-funded 199-kilometre Abakaliki ring road project while he was Governor of Ebonyi State, Umahi denied personal involvement, describing the matter as politically motivated. He said one of the engineers, working for a contractor he identified as Marcon Nigeria Limited, strayed from an agreed route to meet the contractor near a community checkpoint, and was mistaken for an informant by armed community members who opened fire, killing two people instantly, before killing three others they had initially spared, after which the remains were allegedly taken to a shrine and burned. He said three policemen were killed during the subsequent manhunt, and that those responsible were eventually apprehended, with the matter still before the courts.
Responding to questions over the death of his late aide, Mary Habila, Umahi said the family’s own account, as stated in a funeral brochure, acknowledged she had a hole in the heart which she had kept from him. He said she had reported bleeding from the nose to her boyfriend in the days before her death, which the boyfriend did not immediately escalate to him. He confirmed meeting with the boyfriend, saying police had recovered and reviewed phone communications between the two. He said he had insisted on an autopsy against the family’s initial wishes, and that the post-mortem revealed an enlarged heart, with a histology report still pending. He rejected reports attributed to Sahara Reporters suggesting Habila was “imported” from Kaduna for his pleasure, describing such claims as defamatory and damaging to a reputation built over years.
Turning to politics, Umahi said he believes the political climate that favoured Peter Obi’s dominance of the Southeast in the 2023 election, which he described as “an accident of history” born of regional anger over perceived federal neglect, will not be replicated in 2027, citing what he described as improved infrastructure attention to the zone under the Tinubu administration, including his own appointment as a Southeast minister overseeing major projects.
He criticised social media activity he attributed to Obi supporters, including a claim, which he said amounted to defamation of faith, that Obi would defeat Jesus Christ in an election, and faulted Obi for not publicly cautioning his supporters over such remarks or over calls for President Tinubu to resign, which Umahi characterised as an insult. He said he had not called on Obi to step aside from politics, only for a more restrained tone from his camp, warning against anything that could make other regions “afraid” of the Southeast.
He disclosed that a Southeast presidential slot had not been informally agreed among the zone’s other 2027 aspirants, naming candidates he identified as being from Zamfara (as a Labour Party figure) and an unnamed female aspirant, alongside Obi, saying no consultation process had brought the region’s leaders, including governors, together to endorse a single candidate.
Umahi defended the removal of the fuel subsidy, disputing the existence of distinct “subsidy savings,” and argued that funds previously used to informally subsidise fuel purchases are now properly remitted to the federation account and shared across federal, state and local governments. He criticised Obi for reportedly reversing an earlier position opposing subsidy removal to now say he would reinstate it only after addressing corruption in the sector, and challenged Obi’s anti-corruption record as Anambra State governor, questioning infrastructure outcomes from that tenure.
Umahi confirmed personally funding 4,000 social media influencers to promote the coastal highway project and, by extension, campaign for President Tinubu’s re-election, insisting the funding came from his personal and family resources rather than public funds, which he said would otherwise require formal government procurement processes.
Pressed repeatedly on whether he harbours presidential ambition, Umahi said contemplating the position while serving under President Tinubu would amount to disloyalty, describing his own political trajectory as spiritually guided and distinct from Obi’s. He did not rule out a future ambition beyond 2031 but said he would defer to the President’s wishes on the matter, and dismissed suggestions that his frequent criticism of Obi is driven by rival ambition.
Asked about his son’s recent victory in a local government chairmanship election, Umahi congratulated him but said he does not personally wish for his children to go into politics, deferring the choice to his son, his wife and what he described as individual destiny.
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