The Federal Government has disclosed that a total of 1,224 kilometres of road construction work is currently ongoing across three of its legacy road projects: the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway, the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway, and the Trans-Sahara Highway.
The disclosure was made by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, in a statement posted on the Ministry’s official website on Sunday.
The 1,224 km figure is based on a 3-lane equivalent measure, a standard way of summing up progress on highways that have different widths.
It does not mean the roads themselves are three-lane highways. In reality, some of them, such as the Lagos–Calabar and Sokoto–Badagry projects, are 6-lane dual carriageways.
Using this measure, 350 km of work is ongoing on the Lagos–Calabar project, 756 km on the Sokoto–Badagry Superhighway, and 118 km on the Trans-Sahara road, making a combined total of 1,224 km.
“I wish to highlight just a few key ongoing projects in each of the six Geo-Political Zones. The four legacy projects of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR:a) Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is 750 km: As of today, a total of 110 km is ongoing within Lagos State and 65 km within Cross River and Akwa Ibom States. The total ongoing is 175 km by 6 lanes or 350 km by 3 lanes in the South.
“b) The Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway, which is 1068km: As of today, we have 258 km ongoing at Kebbi section and 120 km ongoing at Sokoto section. Total ongoing is 378 km by 6 lanes or 756 km by 3 lanes in the North.
“c) Trans Sahara road spanning through Cross River – Ebonyi – Benue – Kogi – Nasarawa – Abuja, which is 465km: 118 km by 3 lanes or 59 km by 6 lanes is ongoing in Ebonyi State – South,” the statement read in part.
Umahi also drew attention to the fourth legacy project, the 439 km Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe road, which is presently undergoing a redesign from flexible to rigid pavement as directed by President Bola Tinubu.
The Minister issued the statement in reaction to claims by Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso that the current administration was prioritising roads in the South at the expense of the North. He said the data on ongoing works showed significant activity in the northern corridors.
More insights
In the statement, Umahi provided a broader picture of road construction efforts across the country, listing major ongoing projects outside the four legacy projects.
In the North, he highlighted work on corridors such as Sokoto–Zamfara–Katsina–Kaduna (275 km dualized), Abuja–Kaduna–Kano (350 km dualized), the BUA Tax Credit road (256 km dualized), Zaria–Hunkuyi (156 km), the Kano Northern Bypass (49 km), Bama and Dikwa roads (100 km), and the Borno Ring Road (110 km).
He also mentioned other key interventions, including the 76 km Malando road in Kebbi, the 250 km Benue to 9th Mile dual carriageway, and the dualisation of Lokoja–Okene (86 km).
- For the South, the projects listed include sections of the Lagos–Ibadan expressway, Lagos to Sagamu with flyovers, Oyo–Ogbomoso to Ilorin road, the rehabilitation of Carter, Eko and Third Mainland bridges, Enugu–Onitsha road, Enugu–Abakaliki road, access roads to the Second Niger Bridge, Eleme–Onne road, East-West Road section 2, Nembe-Brass road, Bodo-Bonny road, Lokoja–Benin road, and the Eket bypass.
- The Minister said many of these projects were awarded towards the end of the last administration, but had not taken off effectively before the present administration decided to continue funding them.
He announced plans to publish in the coming week a comprehensive list of all federal road and bridge projects valued at N20 billion and above that are either ongoing or completed.
