Federal government insists the original 750-kilometer coastal alignment remains, while a separate 400-kilometer reconstruction is proposed.
The Presidency has rejected claims that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will bypass sections of the Niger Delta following plans to rehabilitate the existing East-West Road.
In a clarification published through its official X account, the federal government said the 750-kilometer dual carriageway remained a distinct project and that President Bola Tinubu had not directed its abandonment or substitution with the East-West Road.
The administration described the proposed reconstruction of approximately 400 kilometers of the East-West Road, between Edo and Cross River states, as an additional undertaking. It argued that parts of the existing road require major intervention because of damaged pavement, flooding and changing environmental conditions.
The statement followed controversy over earlier remarks by Works Minister David Umahi suggesting that the coastal project would use an existing inland corridor across portions of the Niger Delta. Those remarks prompted questions about which communities would remain connected to the proposed coastal alignment and whether design revisions could affect project costs.
The Presidency said work was proceeding on identified sections, including 75 kilometers in Cross River and Akwa Ibom, 65 kilometers in Ogun and Ondo, and a further 62 kilometers in Akwa Ibom. Surveying and design work, it added, would continue along the outstanding stretch through Edo, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers before procurement and construction could advance.
To illustrate its position, the government referred to the addition of the Wukari-Langtang corridor to another federal legacy road scheme, arguing that an extra route need not replace an original alignment.
Nevertheless, the clarification did not publish a definitive route map showing the relationship between the coastal highway and the East-West Road at disputed locations. Nor did it set out the financial implications of undertaking both corridors. Those details remain central to public scrutiny of a project promoted as a major transport and economic link across southern Nigeria.
The government urged the public to disregard reports that the coastal highway had been discontinued, maintaining that its commitment to the full corridor had not changed.
