FG withholds compensation on Lagos-Calabar highway project

The Federal Government has announced a temporary halt to compensation payments for property owners affected by the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project from Kilometer Seven onward.

This decision follows alterations to the project plan.

Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, disclosed this during an inspection of ongoing work on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and other road projects, including the Lekki Free Trade Zone, Dangote Tax Credit Route, and Eleko axis, on Saturday in Lagos.

To address compensation issues affecting critical infrastructure, the government has decided to narrow the entire corridor from Phase Two, Section Two of the coastal route to effective pavements of 55 kilometers, incorporating 10 train tracks. About N10 billion has already been released in compensations.

“We are withholding compensation payments from Kilometer Seven due to re-routing of sections like the white sand beach,” Umahi explained. “The corridor has been compressed to 55 effective pavements with 10 train tracks, and we have reduced the 10 tracks from 55 to 20, taking it back toward the project’s beginning.”

The minister assured that compensation payments would resume after the review. “For Section Two, we will appoint new enumerators to provide their assessments quickly,” he said.

Umahi emphasized that many properties would be preserved. “We saved the community of Okunaja by re-routing through a swamp, avoiding the destruction of cables,” he noted. He also addressed concerns from some individuals protesting the re-routing, calling for destruction of cables instead. “I believe they will see reason and understand the necessity of these adjustments,” Umahi added.