Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project gets boost with EPC+F contract signing

Stanley Ihedigbo

Federal Ministry of Works has signed the EPC+F contract component of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project with Hitech Construction Company Nigeria Limited.

This milestone marks a significant step forward in the project’s development, which is expected to stimulate economic growth and improve connectivity between Lagos and Calabar.

According to the Special Adviser (Media) to the Honourable Minister of Works, Senator David Nweze Umahi, Hon. Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, the project is a dream come true, initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu 27 years ago.

The minister expressed gratitude to God Almighty for the project’s progress and assured that with the contractor’s capacity and the President’s political will, the 750km project would be completed before the end of the President’s second tenure.

The EPC+F contract allows for foreign financing of the project, with the federal government committing 30% counterpart funding.

The minister praised the President’s tenacity in realizing this lofty dream, saying that Nigerians can expect the entire 750 kilometers to be fully achieved before the President leaves office.

In the signing ceremony which had in attendance the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Works, Engr. O. O. Adebiyi, the Director of Legal Services, Barr. Clement Assam, the Ag. Director Road Design, Engr. Musa Saidu,, the Managing Director of Hitech Construction Ltd, Dany Abboud and others.

The minister assured that with the capacity of the contractor and the manifest political will of Mr. President, the 750km Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway project would be fully achieved by the power of God before the end of the 2nd tenure of Mr. President.

He said: “We’re very grateful to God Almighty for this project that Mr. President initiated. A dream of about 27 years back is made flesh before us, and we are fortunate to be part of this wonderful, evolving, mega project, biggest ever known in Africa- the Lagos-Calabar Superhighway. So today, we have signed the EPC+F contract, which is Engineering, Procurement, Construction plus Finance.”

He explained that the importance of the agreement, “Now the beauty of it is that the F component of EPC + F is what is being fulfilled today. So, by signing this EPC + F contract, it is paving the way for the contractor through the Federal Ministry of Finance to bring in foreign investment into this project. The federal government commitment is 30% counterpart funding, which the President is fulfilling.”

He further said, “And now there is a foreign component of the project, that is, foreign financing that will come in, it’s going to fast track the performance of this project, and I’m happy with the performance of Hitech, with the quality of work they are doing and the speed of work. If not for settlement of a very high fee, we would have been able to commission the entire first section within one year of the project, even though it is for 36 months.”

Praising the tenacity of Mr. President, in realizing this lofty dream, he said: “It is a very wonderful thing to witness this and to be part of it. And we will continue to pray for Mr. President, we will continue to support him, and we must continue to say that given the two tenures of Mr. President, Nigerians are assured that the entire 750 kilometers will be fully achieved before Mr. President leaves office at the end of his two tenors. And God, who started this, is going to get it completed.

While handing over the signed agreement to the Honourable Minister of Works, the Permanent Secretary who signed the agreement on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Works said that the agreement was signed in accordance with the law.