Reps demand review of Lagos-Calabar coastal highway realignment

The House of Representatives has urged the federal government to retain the originally conceptualised alignment of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway through Ondo State and the Escravos–Ogheye–Ugborodo corridor in Delta State, calling for a review of the proposed realignment.

The lawmakers warned that diverting the highway away from coastal communities could undermine the project’s original objectives of improving connectivity, facilitating trade and unlocking economic opportunities in the region.

The motion was moved by Thomas Ereyitomi (APC, Delta) during Wednesday’s plenary.

The lawmaker raised concerns about the proposed route bypassing riverine communities in Delta State, including the Ogheye, Orere, Ugborodo, and Escravos corridor, where major oil and gas infrastructure is located.

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a major federal road project designed to connect communities and economic centres along Nigeria’s Atlantic coastline, from Lagos to Calabar in Cross River State. The project was initially conceived as a roughly 700-kilometre corridor and is intended to improve movement, trade and access to coastal communities across several states.

The federal government has recently defended changes being considered for sections of the route, citing difficult terrain, flooding, weak subsoil conditions and climate-related risks.

Minister of Works Dave Umahi said the government intends to use portions of the existing East-West Road in the affected corridor, while maintaining the wider coastal highway project.

However, the House said any change to the route should be subjected to an independent assessment of its engineering requirements, environmental consequences, socioeconomic impact and total lifecycle cost.

Mr Ereyitomi said the proposed realignment could prevent coastal communities from benefiting from a project specifically conceived to improve connectivity along the coastline.

“The proposed realignments may compromise the project’s original connectivity and economic-development objectives if their comparative engineering requirements, environmental consequences, socioeconomic implications, and total lifecycle costs are not independently assessed,” he said.

He noted that retaining the original coastal alignment would improve access to communities and economic hubs hosting oil and gas infrastructure, including the Chevron tank farm and Escravos Gas-to-Liquids plant.

He also said the route would improve the movement of workers, equipment, and commercial goods while creating opportunities to connect roads and other infrastructure in coastal areas.

He urged the federal government to consider the full cost of alternative routes, including additional road distance, bridges, ground improvement, environmental mitigation, compensation, flood protection and long-term maintenance.

Mr Ereyitomi also suggested that engineering solutions such as soil stabilisation, geosynthetics, piled foundations, reinforced embankments and elevated viaducts could be considered where technically and environmentally appropriate.

Debate

Contributing to the debate, Inombek Abiante, a Rivers lawmaker, questioned the justification for moving the road away from coastal communities.

Mr Abiante said the communities had long suffered from poor infrastructure despite the economic value of the resources extracted from their areas.

“If crude oil were found in those areas, would they say the terrain was difficult?”

He questioned whether the government would have accepted difficult terrain as a reason to abandon the area if the purpose was to extract crude oil.

Mr Abiante also demanded that the expert proposing the realignment should appear before the House to explain the technical reasons for the change.

“I want to know why he wants to deny me the little benefit I stand to gain after this government and this country have exploited my people and me to the point of exhaustion,” he said.

He also said no environmental impact assessment of the project had been made available to his constituency.

Mr Abiante initially questioned whether the House Committee on Works could adequately protect his interests, prompting Speaker Abbas Tajudeen to ask him to withdraw the statement.

Mr Tajudeen said lawmakers should show confidence in House committees but agreed the committee could be directed to do further work on the issue.

Mr Abiante later clarified that he wanted the committee to consider the interests of affected communities and also called for an interface with the Works Minister.

He said coastal communities needed to understand why the realignment was being proposed so lawmakers could give their constituents accurate information.

“We do not want the road to be realigned elsewhere. God has remembered us through Mr President,” he said.

He recalled that it took almost 50 years for a road to reach Bonny, even though crude oil was first shipped from the area in 1965.

Mark Esset (APC, Akwa Ibom), in an amendment to the motion, asked the Federal Ministry of Works to submit the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the highway to the House through the relevant committee.

Mr Esset said making the assessment available would help lawmakers understand the project’s environmental challenges and the measures proposed to address them.

He argued that the assessment should have been completed and considered before construction work began.

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“If that had been done, Mr Speaker, I do not think we would have found ourselves in this situation today,” he said.

He said the EIA would help identify potential environmental challenges and the measures required to mitigate them.

Ademorin Kuye, a Lagos lawmaker, proposed that the Federal Ministry of Works review the proposed realignment while providing alternative access for communities that could be cut off by the change.

He said that where the main dual carriageway had to move inland because of deep water pits and unstable terrain, reinforced coastal feeder roads should be built to reconnect maritime and fishing communities to the main highway.

Mr Kuye also called for relevant business proponents to explain the reasons for the realignment and for alternative access routes to be designed to minimise displacement.

He further proposed attaching a timeline to the implementation of the measures.

After debate, the lawmakers adopted the motion when it was put to a vote by Mr Tajudeen.