Lagos-Calabar highway: Why Umahi is defiant, continues construction amid lawsuits

David Umahi, Nigeria’s minister for works, says construction work continues on the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway in spite of the many court cases seeking to stop the N15 trillion project.

The 700-kilometre coastal highway which traverses nine coastal states including Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Edo Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River where it terminates from Lagos, has been a subject of controversy since construction work started on its first 47 kilometre stretch early this year.

Some concerned Nigerians who feel aggrieved with what has been described as the project’s back-door procurement process, outrageous cost at N15 trillion which translates to N4 billion per kilometre and lack of environment and social impact assessment (ESIA) have gone to Court to stop it.

Read also: Can the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway mend West Africa’s infrastructure gap?

But Umahi in an apparent “executive arrogance and lawlessness,” is insisting that the project must continue because, according to him, the federal government is commitment to completing the project, contending that all legal and procedural requirements were followed.

“We have not just one court case, we have over six, but we are equal to the task,” the minister confirmed at an event to mark his one year anniversary in office, wondering what those suing the government were taking to court when, he said, “we are paying compensation.”

“We are following the corridor’s right of way. We are following the corridor that is legally allowed for the Federal Government,” he added, dismissing claims that the project lacked proper authorisation.

The minister faulted arguments that the project’s procurement process was not done properly, insisting that it was above board, having been approved by the Federal Executive Council under the Restrictive Procurement Act.

Continuing, he said, “my permanent secretary is a procurement expert, and I have a very good Department of Public Procurement and good directors, and the project was approved by the Federal Executive Council under restrictive procurement.”

On the project’s cost which former Vice President Atiku Abubakar described as prohibitive, Umahi also faulted the comparisons to other international projects, explaining, “I’ve had to run even the cost of the project at N4 billion per kilometre. And people still say, ‘oh, this number of lanes in Egypt is N1.8bn, and it is 300 kilometres.’”

Umahi disagreed with those who accuse him of executing a project of that magnitude without an environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) saying, “all environmental social impact assessments has been completed and the project was included in the 2023 supplementary appropriation.

“We have ESIA certificates on the project. That’s number one. Number two, was the project listed in the appropriation list? The project is in the 2023 supplementary appropriation. The project is ongoing. But the more you take us to court, the more we increase the price of work,” he said

In a tone that showed determination to face the odds from the litigants, Umahi said, “if they want to unduly benefit from the project by going to court, they are wasting their time. I fought many battles as governor of my state. And so, my name is David and I’m not afraid of bad people.”

The Lagos-Calabar coastal highway was conceived as a child of necessity, but by the manner of its delivery, it has turned out to be a child of controversy.

Apart from the controversy surrounding its procurement process, cost and ESIA, the compensation and the right of way or its revised alignment are fresh controversial issues that the Umahi-led ministry of works has to contend with.

The minister says government has paid about N10 billion in compensation but those whose properties were demolished are raising alarm that what the government paid as compensation was too small to make up for their lost properties.

Olanrewaju Ojo, the founder of Leisure Games, For instance, was quoted as saying that he got N1.3 million compensation which, according to him, was what he could generate in a week. “This is ridiculous; what am I supposed to do with this? I will make this in a week,” he fumed.

Read also: Doherty to sue FG over Lagos-Calabar coastal highway procurement

Paul Onwuanibe, Group CEO, Landmark Africa Group, told BusinessDay that they were yet to be paid any compensation after demolishing the Landmark Beach Resort valued at $200 million which was contributing about $1.5 in tax revenue annually.

In its recent report on ‘Nigeria Real Estate Market Review H1 2024,’ Northcourt Real Estate noted that the demolition of the Landmark Beach which raised concerns among investors has forced some of them to consider downscaling their investment plans, while others have reallocated investments to other jurisdictions in Africa.

In a related development, Over 100 property owners in Lafiaji community, Eti-Osa Local Government Area of Lagos State, are planning legal action against the Federal Government because they are being issued demolition notices to evacuate their properties for the coastal highway construction.

The community says that they followed due process in acquiring their lands, adding that in the acquisitions of their plots of land and in building their property, they were well informed about the Right of Way, clearly marked, beaconed, and established for the coastal highway, and, therefore, ensured that they did not encroach on or trespass to the established right of way.