The move by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to present a 30-kilometre segment of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as a completed and commission-worthy project has drawn sharp criticism from the Network for the Actualisation of Social Growth and Viable Development (NEFGAD), a leading public procurement advocacy group in Nigeria.
In a statement signed by its Country Head of Office, Mr. Akingunola Omoniyi, NEFGAD noted with deep concern that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a 750-kilometre unbroken contract, meant to serve as a transformative infrastructure corridor across Nigeria’s coastal region.
According to NEFGAD, to commission just 30 kilometres, barely four percent of the total project length, while the rest remains under construction is premature and misleading.
“We caution against the politicization of infrastructure delivery and stress that project commissioning should reflect substantive completion and usability of the project in its entirety or at least a major functional section.
“Presenting a fraction as the whole not only misrepresents the scope of work but risks undermining public trust in government communication and performance metrics.
“The minister must be mindful of the kind of precedent this action sets. If left unchecked, this could normalize the commissioning of uncompleted or partially completed projects across the country, turning what should be moments of national progress into mere photo opportunities and political theater,” the statement read.
NEFGAD stressed that President Bola Tinubu should not be put under undue pressure of commissioning unfinished projects, maintaining that government is a continum, hence, the minister should know that it is not possible for an administration to finish the business of government to the extent of thinking that all projects initiated must be completed during a tenure.
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“President Tinubu himself met projects initiated by previous administrations, completed and inaugurated them,” the group observed.
NEFGAD called on the president to demand transparency and accountability in project delivery.
“The people deserve full value for every public infrastructure initiative,bnot staged ceremonies that paper over incomplete work.
“We urge the Ministry of Works to recommit to credible milestones, uphold project integrity, and ensure that future commissionings are tied to real, completed achievements, not fragments dressed up as finished products,” the statement added.
