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FG sets up legal team for Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway
The Federal Government has set up a legal team to address the numerous court cases impacting the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, Minister of Works David Umahi has said.
He said the decision was crucial as the litigations risk delaying the timely completion of the legacy road project.
According to him, President Bola Tinubu has also approved compensation for property owners along the project corridor, including those with unauthorized structures, adding that the initiative was aimed at resolving legal obstacles and ensuring smooth project execution.
Umahi shared the updates during an inspection and verification tour of Sections I and II of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway with members of the National Assembly Committees on Works, where the lawmakers expressed their commitment to supporting the scheduled completion of the 700-kilometer project.
Section I of the project is 103 kilometres in length and falls entirely within the Lagos State border.
However, a phased execution of the project was adopted, for ease of construction beginning with Phase 1 of Section I, which is 47.4 kilometres in length; Ch.0+000 (Ahmadu Bello Way Junction, Victoria Island) – Ch. 47+474 (Eleko Village Junction).
Phase 1, Section II has a total length of 55.6 kilometres beginning from Ch. 47+474 – Ch. 103 + 000 (Ode – Omi, Lagos-Ogun Border.)
At the project site, Umahi urged the lawmakers to advise other National Assembly Committees to consult the Ministry before summoning its officials over what he described as “frivolous matters” related to the project.
While lamenting that numerous court cases and petitions are impeding progress on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Minister revealed that the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice had established a legal team to address all pending cases.
In a statement by the Ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Mohammed Ahmed, on Saturday, disclosed on behalf of the Minister that President Tinubu had approved the payment of compensation to owners of properties within the project’s corridor, even to those with illegal structures.
While urging the aggrieved to approach the courts to seek redress like others had done, Umahi appealed to aggrieved parties to refrain from politicizing the project.
“We have a lot of people who are not interested in this job being done. Everything the government wants to do, some people want to thwart it,” he said.
On Section II of the project, the Minister also informed the visiting legislators that the President had also approved the extension of the 7th Axial Road passing through the Dangote Refinery, Lekki Free Trade Zone, and the Deep Sea Port, built by Messrs Dangote Industries, on Road Infrastructure Tax Credit Scheme, to be linked with the Coastal Highway.
According to him, the two sections will be linked via a cable bridge, as obtained in other climes like Dubai, UAE.
Responding, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Works, Sen. Mpigi Barinada disclosed that his Committee was convinced that the project was at no point abandoned, as speculated by some mischievous Nigerians, while urging the Ministry not to hesitate in approaching them on any thorny issue concerning the project.
He, however, appealed to the Minister to urgently consider the other sections of the highway passing through the Niger Delta, being an indigene of the zone.
On his part, the Chairman, House Committee on Works, Hon. Akin Alabi pledged the commitment and support of members and the leadership of the House to see to the successful and scheduled completion of the project.
He also appreciated and commended Mr. President for the legacy project, which will boost socio-economic activities, as well as the Minister’s “can-do spirit.”
The Minority Whip of the Senate and a member of the Committee, Sen. Osita Ngwu prompted the Ministry to regularly update Nigerians about the pace of the project.
Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Onyechachi Nwebonyi, who described the project as a “game changer” commended the President, the Minister, and the contractor, noting that the project will bring the economy back, as well as benefit Nigerians, tremendously.
The Managing Director of the construction company, Mr. Dany Abboud assured the team of the availability of adequate manpower and state-of-the-art equipment to complete the project, in line with designed specifications and timelines, promising to take them on an inspection of their yard.
NASS passes vote of confidence in Umahi
Meanwhile, the National Assembly and Joint Committee on Works has passed a vote of confidence in the Minister of Works, Mr. David Umahi, affirming the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as a work in progress.
The joint committee members passed the vote of confidence in Umahi when he led them on an on-the-site assessment of the ongoing infrastructure projects on Friday in Lagos.
The members assured the Ministry of Works of adequate support amidst petitions allegedly slowing down the pace of work on the coastal road.
They commended President Bola Tinubu for the project they unanimously endorsed as a legacy for his administration.
The legacy project, they said, was designed to cut across all regions of the country, with high economic benefits.
Stakeholders, Minister disagree
In another development, stakeholders and indigenes of the Okun Ajah community, Saturday, disagreed with Umahi during a tour of the site of the construction by members of the House of Representatives Committee on Works.
The minister, while briefing the House of Representatives committee members in the presence of some stakeholders at Eleko Beach, said that the road was diverted in Okun Ajah because of submarine cable.
This declaration, however, generated uproar from stakeholders, who shouted that “there is no marine cable in Okun Ajah .”
Reacting, the minister said: “When we got to Okun Ajah at KM 16, we discovered that we have a lot of network cables, MTN, Africa Network that is coming from the ocean. Many people do not understand that. Twenty-five years ago, these cables were not there. Now they are there.”
Buttressing his point, the minister explained that about one month ago, there was a cable challenge that disrupted the network throughout the entire West Africa, adding that in order not to go through that challenge again, the ministry met with the stakeholders and a decision to divert the Coastal Road was taken.
“So when you hear people talking that we left the gazetted corridor, it is for this reason because you are talking of a multi-billion naira cable network at that location.
“We have to divert at Kilometres 16 and we now resurface at Kilometres 25. That is why you have been hearing all sorts of things. “
He insisted that the government had finalized the corridor, and “there is no change on that corridor again,” he said.
One of the stakeholders, Yusuf Odunuga appealed to the minister to use the opportunity of the road construction to save the heritage of the people of Okun Ajah from Ocean surge.
Odunuga, who is an indigene of Okun Ajah also insisted that the cables are in Okun Mopo, which is many kilometers away from the community.
He said ” Oga, I know it very sure, the cable you mentioned is on Kilometre 23, please use a stone to kill two birds. Save our community from Ocean surge by diverting the road to block the surge of the ocean.”
One of the investors, Arc Ejiro Asholami said that he would be losing more than N40 million (Forty million naira) to the diversion of the road, which is no fault of his.
Umahi, stakeholders meet in Lagos
Meanwhile, the National Assembly Joint Committee on Works and the Federal Ministry of Works will hold a stakeholder engagement meeting on the ongoing Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway project.
The Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Dr Yakubu Adam Kofarmata, announced the meeting in a press statement released on Friday in Lagos.
Expected at the parley, which holds at Orchid Hall, Eko Hotel, Lagos at 12 pm, are representatives of renowned firms in the construction industry, government officials, community leaders, and civil society groups.
The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi will brief the gathering on the progress of the coastal road, a legacy project of the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu government, and also receive feedbacks from the public.
A similar meeting on the project was held last week in Akure , Ondo State.
Delta State Governor Sheriff Oborevwori was absent when the Progressive Governors’ Forum (PGF) met in Abuja on Saturday night.
The meeting was to welcome new entrants into the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), but Oborevwori, who recently teamed up with the party, did not attend.
Oborevwori, who swept to victory in 2023 under the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), however, dumped the party earlier in the week, citing several factors.
The governor, his predecessor, Ifeanyi Okowa, and the entire PDP in the South-South state said they are collapsing their structure in the leading APC, which they argue serves as a better platform for the oil-rich state.
Other persons who attended the meeting include Senator Ned Nwoko, who represents Delta North; the Minister of Aviation, Festus Keyamo; a former Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege; APC scribe, Felix Morka; a former governorship candidate in Delta State, Great Ogboru, and other members of the National Assembly.
Saturday’s meeting was held at the Imo Governors’ Lodge in the nation’s capital.
The recent wave of defections from the PDP to the APC has stirred debates among observers, politicians, and Nigerians alike.
With Okowa, a ranking member of the PDP who was the party’s vice presidential candidate in the 2023 election, joining APC, analysts argue that the most recent defections are a big blow to the main opposition party’s move to retake power in 2027.
But some PDP chieftains, including Bode George, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, and ex-Vice President Atiku Abubakar, are unmoved by the development.
They say the party would bounce back stronger ahead of the next general elections.
“What impact has the APC, as a government, given to the people? There is anger in the land. What do you think they are going to do there, if not for personal embellishment?” George, a former Ondo State military governor, said on Friday’s edition of Channels Television’s Politics Today.
“The people of Delta are naturally PDP members. They know the kind of positive impact they enjoyed under the PDP national government. So, if you now decide to go, we wish you the best of luck. We’ve seen it before—those who trooped out eventually came back, because they’re heading into an organisation that is so personally owned.
CREDIT: Channels Television
The Federal Government of Nigeria has announced that Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu, Enugu State, will reopen for flight operations on Monday, 28th April 2025, following the completion of emergency runway repairs.
On April 18th, 2025, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) announced that, due to a sudden and significant rupture in the asphalt surface at a critical section of the runway, the runway would be shut down for emergency repairs.
According to a statement by Mrs. Obiageli Orah, Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, work was scheduled to begin on April 22nd and conclude before reopening on May 6th, 2025. However, rehabilitation works on the runway have been completed earlier than anticipated, and the runway has been cleared for landings and takeoffs by the engineers working with FAAN.
“FAAN appreciates all airport users and stakeholders for their understanding and cooperation during this time. The Authority sincerely apologises for the inconvenience but assures the public that all actions were taken in the interest of safety,” the statement read.
Pastor Chris Oyakhilome of LoveWorld Incorporated has claimed — without proof — that the COVID-19 vaccine was responsible for the death of Pope Francis.
In a video of a programme held on Thursday, which has since gone viral on YouTube, Oyakhilome alleged that the late Pope had aligned himself with “globalists” by promoting COVID-19 vaccines, a decision he said ultimately led to his death.
“I pointed it out during your LoveWorld Specials,” Oyakhilome said.
“While he was trying to encourage the world to take the vaccines, he stated that if Jesus were here, he would have taken the vaccine, and I found that very insulting.”
The televangelist went further to claim that the Pope’s stroke, reported as the immediate cause of death, was a result of blood clots triggered by the vaccine. Speaking to his congregation, Oyakhilome asked a medical doctor present whether a blood clot could cause a stroke. After receiving an affirmative response, he asserted: “The vaccine killed the Pope.”
“Blood clots is one of the most common causes of death from the vaccine. He’s not the only one. Many of them who became ill will not tell you. No one is going to tell you he died as a result of the vaccine. I warned you. I warned the world about taking those mRNA vaccines. No vaccine is good, not one of them, and they have never worked; it’s always been a deception,” said Oyakhilome.
“They have these people dying, they won’t tell you the cause. They dress it up. They get sick and they can’t be cured. They get sick and sick and worse and worse until it kills them. For some, very quickly. They call it sudden death syndrome. So, just remember that I warned you.
“This was a very healthy pope, and I told you that once that substance is inside your body, it can’t leave, it doesn’t go away. They have no scientific way to remove it because they never planned to remove it. It was planned for death, to kill as many people around the world. I feel pained that a pope like that would have his life cut short. And many around the world may not know what led to it but I have told you what led to it. It was the vaccine.”
This is not the first time Pastor Oyakhilome has made unsubstantiated claims about vaccines. Since 2020, he has consistently propagated misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines, despite overwhelming scientific evidence proving their safety and effectiveness.
MEDICAL FACTS AND OFFICIAL STATEMENTS
Contrary to Oyakhilome’s assertions, official information from the Vatican states that Pope Francis was admitted to the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic Hospital after battling bronchitis for several days. His health deteriorated with a diagnosis of bilateral pneumonia on February 18.
After 38 days of hospital care, the Pope returned to his Vatican residence at Casa Santa Marta, where he died following a stroke and subsequent irreversible cardiac arrest.
The Vatican, in a statement released Monday, confirmed that Pope Francis died of a cerebral stroke and heart failure.
It is also publicly known that in his youth, Pope Francis underwent surgery to remove part of a lung damaged by a severe respiratory infection, a factor that contributed to his declining health in later years.
In 2021, he was hospitalised for 10 days after intestinal surgery. He was again hospitalised in 2023 for bronchitis treatment and later for abdominal surgery to remove scar tissue and repair a hernia.
OYAKHILOME’S HISTORY OF FALSE CLAIMS
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Oyakhilome has repeatedly made unsubstantiated claims. In 2020, he alleged that the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria was orchestrated to install 5G technology in Abuja and Lagos.
“The Federal Government was pushed to lockdown Abuja and Lagos specifically because of 5G,” he said.
“What killed people in Wuhan, China, was not the virus but the 5G.”
Oyakhilome also dismissed the use of face masks to prevent the spread of COVID-19, claiming it was political rather than scientific. He said, “Wearing [masks] is politics, it’s okay. But no one should lie to us [that] it’s science… In fact, scientifically, it’s dangerous to health.”
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