The governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has declared that there was no need for Umahi, the minister of works to have been dancing around the cost of the controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project that was approved by President Bola Tinubu.

Makinde stated this while speaking at an event in a viral video on Friday.

Makinde was reacting to a heated exchange that unfolded live on television between Umahi and Arise TV presenter Rufai Oseni on Tuesday.

During the live interview, Oseni had requested the minister to analyse the cost of the project, kilometre by kilometre a request which Umahi turned down stating that there was no need for such since he is a “professor in practice”.

According to Umahi, the explanation would have been too complicated for the journalist to understand..

However, reacting to the incident and justifying the journalist’s question to the minister, Makinde said, “They asked a minister how much is the coastal road is, and then you (Umahi) are dancing around and going to say that no, the next kilometre is different from the next kilometres. Then what is the average cost?

“When we did the Oyo to Iseyin road then, it was about N9.99 billion, almost N10 billion. About 34 or 35 kilometres, average cost is about N238 million per kilometre.

“But when we did Iseyin to Ogbomoso, that was 76 kilometres, it was about N43 billion, average cost is about N500 million per kilometre. And we had two bridges, one over the Ogun river and then one at Ogbomoso end.”

Recall that last year, the Federal Government announced the commencement of construction work on the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which spans nine states and includes two spurs leading to the northern states.

Umahi made the announcement during the official handover of the first phase of the project, made up of 47.47 kilometers of dual carriageway, to Hitech Construction Company Limited, and which is to be constructed in concrete pavement.