National Youth Wing of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has warned President Bola Tinubu against the alleged planned diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, saying the decision could have political consequences for the ruling administration in the 2027 general election.

The group, which made its position known at a press briefing in Benin, Edo State, on Tuesday, demanded the immediate reversal of the alleged proposed realignment and restoration of the highway’s original coastal route to ensure that littoral communities across the Niger Delta benefit from the project.

PANDEF National Youth Leader, Hon. DonBen Donyegha, described the planned diversion through the existing East-West Road via Ondo and Edo States as a departure from the original vision of the 750-kilometre highway, which was conceived to connect coastal communities from Lagos to Calabar.

Donyegha faulted the Federal Government’s reported decision, announced by the Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, citing difficult terrain, deep pits and high construction costs as reasons for reconsidering sections of the original alignment.

He argued that engineering challenges and financial considerations should not be used to exclude oil-bearing coastal communities that have endured decades of environmental pollution, gas flaring and underdevelopment despite their contributions to the nation’s economy.

The PANDEF youth leader maintained that routing the project inland through the existing East-West Road would undermine its original purpose, insisting that subsequent assurances that the highway had not been abandoned did not address concerns over communities that could be left out by the proposed changes.

The group, therefore, called for transparent consultations involving host communities, state governments and other regional stakeholders before any decision on the route is finalised, stressing that the affected communities deserved to be heard on a project with far-reaching economic and social implications.

Donyegha warned that failure to reconsider the decision could deepen feelings of marginalisation in the Niger Delta and affect the political fortunes of the Tinubu administration in 2027, urging the Federal Government to honour its original commitment to the coastal corridor. (Nigerian Tribune)