By SUNDAY ABBA, Abuja
The Federal.Government of Nigeria (FGN) is to commence tolling on Section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will start in December 2025.
Senior Special Assistant to President Tinubu on Communication and Strategy Bayo Onanuga who disclosed this in a statement said the Minister of Works David Umahi made the disclosure while featuring in an interview for a forthcoming State House documentary marking President Bola Tinubu’s second year in office.
Umahi said more than 80% of Section 1—stretching 47.47 kilometres from Ahmadu Bello Way in Victoria Island to the Lekki Deep Sea Port and ending at Eleko Junction had been completed.
He said tolling on that section of the highway would launch a new era of road financing and regional development.
“By December, we will begin tolling Section 1 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. We project a 10-year return on investment. This is more than a road – it is an economic corridor with solar-powered lighting, CCTV surveillance, and carbon credit benefits,” Onanuga quoted Umahi as saying.
The six-lane concrete-paved expressway is one of four transformative infrastructure projects championed by President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
As of May, the ministry had completed 30 kilometres (KMs) of Section 1 and is on course to finish an additional 10 kilometres under Section 2, which runs 55 kilometres from Eleko Junction to the Lagos-Ogun border.
Umahi noted that the economic potential of the Lagos-Calabar Highway extends beyond mobility.
“It is an economic driver for port access, tourism, logistics, and coastal community integration. It will be a game-changer for the South-South, Southeast, and South West,” he said.
Recently, construction began on Sections 3 and 3B—65 kilometres in total – covering 38 kilometres in Cross River State and 27 kilometres in Akwa Ibom.
Umahi said the excitement from host communities underscores the scale of impact the project is already generating.
Beyond the road works, Umahi used the opportunity to reaffirm the southeast’s growing alignment with the Tinubu administration, describing it as a reflection of new federal attention to a region long plagued by marginalisation.
“For the first time, the southeast has a minister of works. We’re seeing real projects: Port Harcourt to Enugu, Enugu to Abakaliki, Onitsha to Owerri, and the Second Niger Bridge, whose cost the President has already paid 30% upfront,” he added.
He described the President’s infrastructure drive as a revival of Nigeria’s long-forgotten master plans. “The Sokoto-Badagry Superhighway was first envisioned over 40 years ago under Shehu Shagari.
“The Trans-Saharan Trade Route dates back to colonial times. Today, Tinubu is breathing life into these dormant dreams,” he said.