Coastal Highway: Doherty faults FG on planned demolition amid cost, EIA concerns

Funso Doherty, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) governorship candidate in Lagos State in 2023, has faulted the federal government’s planned demolition of structures along the right of way of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway despite concerns raised on the cost and environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the project.

The federal controller of works in Lagos, Olukorede Kesha, at a press conference in Lagos announced the planned demolition, saying it will affect all structures within the first three kilometres of the highway whose owners have been served notice of demolition by the government.

Read also: Coastal Highway: FG’s bulldozer starts work on properties Saturday

Doherty, whose reaction was contained in an open letter to the federal government conveyed on his X (formerly Twitter), recalled that numerous concerns have been raised about the cost and lack of competitive bidding in the award of the highway contract that are yet to be remedied.

“A more relevant concern for the purpose of this letter is the fact that the environmental impact assessment for the coastal road project has not been completed or shared for public comments even though the project has commenced and the hugely consequential step of demolition appears imminent,” he said.

Doherty said that no serious government should undertake such a large project without a standard EIA document completed for discussion in public domain, stressing that the EIA is a legal requirement for highway projects under Nigerian EIA Act.

Details later…