BENIN CITY: The National Youth Wing of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has called on President Bola Tinubu to reverse the reported rerouting of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, warning that diverting the project inland could deepen feelings of marginalisation among oil-producing communities in the Niger Delta.
The group made the demand on Tuesday, October 20, 2026, in Benin City, Edo State, while condemning the reported decision to divert sections of the highway from its original coastal alignment towards the existing East-West Road through Ondo State into Edo State.
Speaking at a press conference, PANDEF National Youth Leader, DonBen Donyegha, described the reported change, announced by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, as a betrayal of the project’s original purpose and the coastal communities it was intended to serve.
This is not an engineering tweak. It is a fundamental betrayal of the project’s purpose and of the littoral oil-bearing communities whose lands generate the overwhelming bulk of Nigeria’s wealth,” Donyegha said.
Umahi had reportedly cited difficult terrain, deep pits and the high cost of construction in sections covering parts of Ogun and Ondo states as reasons for the proposed adjustment.
The minister subsequently clarified that the 750-kilometre highway project had not been abandoned and that surveys were continuing in other sections. However, PANDEF argued that the clarification did not address its concerns about communities that could be excluded from the original coastal route.
The youth wing recalled that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was conceived as a major transport corridor connecting Lagos to Calabar through coastal communities and states across the Niger Delta.
According to the group, the project was widely welcomed because it promised improved connectivity, economic opportunities and infrastructure development for communities that have historically struggled with poor roads and limited public investment.
PANDEF argued that many of the communities potentially affected by the reported rerouting have endured decades of environmental pollution, gas flaring and underdevelopment despite contributing significantly to Nigeria’s oil wealth.
It maintained that diverting the highway inland to connect with the existing East-West Road would undermine the project’s coastal development objectives.
Engineering challenges and costs are real in the Niger Delta; they have always been. That should NEVER be an excuse to abandon the coastal communities that bear the heaviest burden of oil extraction and environmental pollution,” the group said.
PANDEF added that previous administrations had neglected connectivity across the region, making the original coastal alignment particularly important to communities that expected the project to address longstanding infrastructure gaps.
The organisation also compared the highway controversy with the earlier struggle for the establishment of the South-South Development Commission (SSDC).
PANDEF recalled that President Tinubu faced pressure over delays in assenting to the SSDC Bill, which the group said had raised concerns about unequal treatment of the South-South region compared with other geopolitical zones.
The commission was eventually established after sustained advocacy and protests, with the group arguing that the episode demonstrated the need for the Federal Government to respond promptly to the region’s development concerns.
PANDEF warned against what it described as a recurring pattern in which the Niger Delta must repeatedly campaign for infrastructure and institutions that other regions receive with less resistance.
It urged the President to prevent any interests within his administration from undermining the original objectives of the coastal highway.
The group outlined three principal demands aimed at resolving the dispute and preventing further tensions in the region.
First, it called for the immediate cancellation of the reported directive to divert the highway towards the East-West Road through Ondo State and a return to the original coastal alignment across all affected sections.
Second, it demanded transparent and documented consultations with host communities, state governments and regional stakeholders before any further major changes to the route.
Third, PANDEF asked the Federal Government to publicly guarantee that every littoral oil-producing community originally intended to benefit from the highway would still be connected through an appropriate coastal route rather than being left dependent on an inland road.
The organisation acknowledged that improving the East-West Road would be beneficial but insisted that such work should be treated as a separate, complementary infrastructure project.
The East-West Road has been a symbol of neglect and broken promises for decades. Upgrading portions of it is welcome as a separate, complementary project. It cannot be used as a substitute that effectively bypasses the coastal communities this signature project was meant to open up,” the group said.
PANDEF warned that failure to reconsider the reported rerouting could provoke reactions from young people and host communities across the Niger Delta, potentially undermining the relative peace and security achieved in the region.
The group also suggested that the controversy could have political implications for the Tinubu administration ahead of the 2027 general elections, as oil-producing communities closely monitor decisions affecting their development and access to infrastructure.
It appealed directly to Tinubu to intervene, restore the original coastal vision and ensure that the concerns of affected communities are addressed through meaningful dialogue.
“The National Youth Wing of PANDEF calls 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,” the group added.
The controversy places renewed focus on the balance between construction costs, engineering challenges and the Federal Government’s development commitments to coastal communities.
However, PANDEF’s demands and warnings reflect the group’s position on the reported route changes; the final alignment and the communities to be served will depend on the Federal Government’s official project decisions.
