Court rejects case against Lagos-Calabar highway project

The Federal High Court in Lagos, South-west Nigeria, on Thursday, rejected a suit challenging the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

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Delivering judgement, the judge, Akintayo Aluko, held that the court lacked jurisdiction to hear the suit.

But instead of striking out the case, he ordered its transfer to the Lagos State High Court, which he considered to have the jurisdiction over the matter, to hear it.

The controversial 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, which the federal government estimated would cost N15 trillion and take eight years to be completed, has been steeped in controversy.

The contract was awarded last year to Hitech Construction Company Limited on an Engineering, Procurement, Construction, and Financing (EPC+F) arrangement without bidding or open tender.

It raised transparency and conflict of interest concerns from Nigerians, who pointed to the longstanding close relationship between Hitech’s owners, Ronald and Gilbert Chagoury, and President Bola Tinubu.

The first phase of the coastal road, which stretches 47.47 kilometres from Lagos, sparked outrage after the federal government demolished Landmark Beach Resort in Victoria Island. The popular resort accommodated several businesses and was valued at over $200 million.

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In May 2024, the Minister of Works and Housing, Dave Umahi, disclosed that 750 houses on the path of the highway had been marked for demolition.

The legal battle

Some indigenes and other owners of properties around the Okun-Ajah community in Eti-Osa Local Government Area of the state, whose properties were affected by the design of the project, sued the federal government at the Federal High Court in Lagos over the project.

According to a report by Channels TV, the plaintiffs included Saheed Olukosi, a chief of the Okun-Ajah community; Issa Afolayan, Yussuf Sulaiman and others representing the community.

The defendants sued in the suit are Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Umahi; Olukorede Keisha; the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing; Attorney-General of Lagos State; Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure Development; Surveyor-General of Lagos State; General Manager, Lagos State Physical Planning Permit Authority; General Manager, Lagos State Building Control Agency and Hitech Construction Limited.

The plaintiffs asked the court to stop the project to put an end to alleged encroachment on their landed properties.

They asked the court to set aside the designs, plans of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway that encroached into their parcels of land.

They also sought an order restraining the 1st-3rd and 9th defendants from encroaching, trespassing, and diverting the construction of the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Road into their land.

They also sought damages for acts of trespassing on the land in dispute.

Fighting back

The respondents filed a preliminary objection against the suit, insisting that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear it.

The plaintiffs’ lawyer urged the court to reject the preliminary objection.

But the legal team submitted an alternative request calling on the court to transfer the suit to the appropriate court, should the judge find that the court lacked jurisdiction to adjudicate over the case.

The plaintiffs specifically urged the judge to transfer the suit to the Lagos State High Court as the court with competent jurisdiction to hear it, instead of striking it out.

Judgement

Ruling on the notices of the preliminary objection “… coming from the foregoing, the issues in the two notices of preliminary objection of the 1st – 3rd defendants and that of the 9th defendant are resolved in favour of the objectors against the plaintiffs.

“I agree with counsel on this request as this court possesses the needed power and jurisdiction to accede to such prayer.”

He explained that the court is empowered under Section 22(2) of the Federal High Court Act which provides thus: no matter shall be struck out by the court merely on the ground that such cause or matter was taken in the court instead of the High Court of a State or of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in which it ought to have been brought.

“The Objections of the 1st – 3rd and 9th Defendants/Objectors are therefore sustained. This court has no jurisdiction to adjudicate over the subject matter in this case.

“Pursuant to section 22(2) of the Federal High Court Act, this suit is accordingly transferred to the Lagos State High Court as the appropriate court for adjudication.” Mr Aluko held.

The project

The controversial highway project is designed to link the former capital city to Calabar, a port city near the border with Cameroon. The government said it would ease transportation across the country.

In November 2024, PREMIUM TIMES reported that the federal government increased the compensation amount for property owners affected by the construction of Section 1, Phase 1 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

The government increased the compensation sum from the initial N8 billion to about N18 billion.

The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, made the disclosure at a stakeholders engagement on the ongoing construction of Phase 1, Sections 1 and 11 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, on Sunday in Lagos.

In February, Mr Umahi said N15 billion had been disbursed for the first phase of compensation to owners of demolished properties along Section One of the Lagos-Calabar Highway has been disbursed.

But even with increase in the compensation allocation to N18 billion, many affected property owners, including those who sued the federal government over the project, rejected the compensation offer, describing it as insufficient compared to the actual value of their properties.

For instance, in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH, a retired banker, Emeka Mewu, described the compensation offered him as meagre compared to the value of his property.

He said, “My property was valued at over N400 million, both the land and developments thereon, which were four bungalows, but I was just given N3.3 million.”