2024: Reps to investigate procurement process in Lagos-Calabar coastal road contract

The House of Representatives has passed a resolution to investigate the procurement process in the award of the contract of the  ₦15trn Lagos-Calabar coastal road.

This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance moved by Austine Achado (APC, Benue) during plenary on Thursday.

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The House said the 2007 Procurement Act was violated and that certain approvals by the National Assembly as required by the law were not given.

In light of the above, the House has asked the minister of works, finance, attorney general, and minister of justice, to avail the National Assembly copies of the documents for award of the contract.

The fresh development by the Reps comes following the demolition of buildings and structures on the right of way of the project.

The Minister of Works Dave Umahi recently said the Lagos-Calabar coastal road construction, will cost N4bn per kilometre.

The 700 km Lagos-Calabar coastal road will be constructed for N15trn, and a kilometre of the road will cost N4 billion. It is designed to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom states, before culminating in Cross River.

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The project has been heavily criticised by many Nigerians including the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi, who described it as a misplaced priority by the Federal Government.

Also, former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, had described the project as a fraud, a comment which was refuted by the Presidency.