Lagos-Calabar highway diversion may undermine 2027 elections - PANDEF youths warn Nigerian govt

The National Youth Wing of the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, has warned the Federal Government that the diversion of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway from its original coastal alignment could have political consequences for the administration in the 2027 elections.

DAILY POST reports that the youth wing stated this at a press conference in Benin City on Tuesday, October 20, 2026.

DonBen Donyegha, National Youth Leader of PANDEF, said the Federal Government’s announcement to redesign and reroute the coastal highway was not an engineering adjustment but a fundamental betrayal of the project’s purpose and the littoral oil-bearing communities whose lands generate the bulk of Nigeria’s wealth.

Donyegha, who rejected the Federal Government’s plan, said failure to reverse the decision could trigger avoidable reactions from youths and communities across the Niger Delta.

He added that such reactions could undermine the hard-won peace and security in the region and have political consequences for the administration’s electoral prospects in the 2027 elections.

He noted that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was conceived and presented as a transformative coastal artery linking Lagos through the littoral states and communities of the Niger Delta to Calabar.

The PANDEF youth leader explained that the littoral states and communities along the route were the same riverine and coastal communities that had hosted oil production for decades while enduring pollution, gas flaring and underdevelopment.

While noting that the region continued to supply the resources sustaining the Nigerian economy, he said rerouting the project inland through the East-West Road, which he described as chronically neglected, was contrary to the original promise and the demands of justice.

According to him, the East-West Road had symbolised neglect and broken promises for decades. He said upgrading sections of the road was welcome as a separate and complementary project.

“It cannot be used as a substitute that effectively bypasses the coastal communities this signature project was meant to open up.

“The oil-bearing communities of the Niger Delta are watching. They will not accept being written out of a project built on the wealth extracted from their land, nor will they continue to beg cap in hand for their rightful share.

“We call on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene personally, reverse the diversion and restore the original coastal vision of the Lagos-Calabar Highway.

“We stand ready for constructive dialogue, but we will not be silent while our communities are once again sidelined,” he said.

Donyegha also urged President Tinubu not to fall prey to what he described as latent forces within his administration seeking to use the project to fulfil a long-standing desire to oppress the littoral states.

He called for the immediate cancellation of the directive to divert the highway onto the East-West Road through Ondo State and a full return to the original coastal alignment across all affected sections.

The group also demanded transparent and documented engagement with host communities, state governments and regional stakeholders before any further major realignment decisions.

It further called for public confirmation that every littoral oil-bearing community originally intended to benefit from the highway would still be served by a proper coastal route rather than being left to depend on an upgraded inland road that had failed them for years.

DAILY POST recalls that the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, had publicly quoted President Tinubu as directing: “Divert, do not do any new alignments. Pass the coastal highway through the existing East-West road.”

Umahi reportedly justified the proposed change by citing difficult terrain, deep pits and cost considerations in sections covering parts of Ogun and Ondo states.

Lagos-Calabar highway diversion may undermine 2027 elections - PANDEF youths warn Nigerian govt