The Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Sunday, said President Bola Tinubu did not direct him to award the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to Hitech Construction Company, insisting that he took full responsibility for the controversial procurement.

Umahi, who also dismissed suggestions that the project was a conduit for money laundering by the administration, said the decision to use Hitech followed the company’s experience in tackling coastal erosion and restoring Victoria Island.

The minister spoke when he featured as a guest on Sunday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.

He said, “The president never asked me to give it to Hitech. Till today, the president will not tell you that he called me to say, ‘Give this project to Hitech.” Never!

“Don’t forget that I also have my integrity. Don’t also forget that I have a journey of life and that I’m accountable for any decision I take as Dave Umahi.”

His comments came amid controversy over the procurement and funding of the coastal highway, particularly the Federal Government’s decision to award the project to Hitech through a special procurement process.

Umahi defended the process, saying the law permitted different forms of procurement, including restrictive selective tendering for urgent projects.

“Can we talk about the procurement first because that’s the first thing you asked? There are three kinds of procurement, and it’s allowed by the law of the National Assembly.

“We have the Kind of procurement where you advertise; we have the restrictive selective tendering where you can call, maybe if the project is very urgent, about five to six companies, run it through the BPP, ask them to qualify them, return them, then go for commercial bidding,” he noted.

Explaining why Hitech was selected, the minister said the company had previously undertaken work in Lagos that demonstrated its capacity to deal with coastal erosion.

He said, “Do you know how long it took the President, when he was a governor, to invite Hitech (Construction Company)? Hitech initially resisted, but their methodology is what killed the ocean menace and then restored Victoria Island. That’s the reason why we did this special procurement using Hitech.”

Asked whether Tinubu’s friendship with the owner of Hitech, Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury, influenced the award, Umahi rejected the suggestion.

“Have you lived with your enemy before? Does it matter if they are friends or not friends? It doesn’t matter because it has nothing to do with my procurement. I take full responsibility for all my decisions.”

He added, “Again, why would the President be involved? He gave me the job to do. Do you know the process by which projects are approved? It has to pass through the Bureau of Public Procurement. They have to look at it.”

Umahi also explained why the coastal highway project was not presented to the National Assembly for approval, saying lawmakers’ approval was required for the borrowing plan and not the procurement itself.

He queried, “Why should it go to the National Assembly? That’s not the procurement procedure. It doesn’t have to go to the National Assembly. It is the borrowing plan that has to go to the Assembly.”

The former governor said the Federal Government was constructing hydraulic channels and service lanes to help evacuate floodwater into the lagoon and improve access for residents along the corridor.

He said some drainage channels built by the Lagos State Government were either blocked or inadequate to evacuate floodwater effectively.

“What we are doing is that at every 50 metres, we are creating channels from the Southern part of the coastline, that is, from the ocean side, and we are taking it to the northern part of the coastal highway, which is where the lagoon is.

“The Lagos State government has several channels running from point to point, taking floodwaters to the lagoon. Some of these channels are blocked. Some have not been fully constructed to take the surrounding drainages and evacuate the water.”

He added, “What we are doing now is to create service lanes. So, we are not just trying to solve the problem of the flooding. We are also making life very easy for the people of Lagos State who have properties within that location. So we are creating very serious hydraulic channels in the form of drainages.”

Asked how long the coastal highway was expected to last, Umahi said, “It will last between 50 and 100 years with low maintenance.”