The Minister of Works, David Umahi, announced that compensation payments for Section 2 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will begin on April 26, 2025.
He made this disclosure during a stakeholders’ meeting held on Sunday at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos State.
He said, “On section 2 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, verification should start tomorrow under the Federal Comptroller of Works, Olukorede Keisha, and the payment is going to start from the 26th of this month.”
The minister also revealed that N16 billion has already been paid to the contractors.
He said, “We have paid N16bn to the contractors, even though what was in our budget for the contractor was N8bn, but I had to talk to the president who consented, so we paid N16bn today.
“There are still one or two people contesting theirs and took us to court; we floored them the first time, and they have gone to the State High Court. There are about seven Senior Advocates of Nigeria defending us because we are doing the right thing. Apart from those people, we have paid every other person.”
The Federal Government disclosed that N15 billion of the N18 billion allocated for the first phase of compensation to property owners along Section One of the Lagos-Calabar Highway has already been disbursed.
The Director of Federal Highways, Bridges, and Design at the Federal Ministry of Works, Bede Obioha, stated that the total amount of compensation exceeds N18 billion.
“Section 2 is being put together, and as soon as all is done and necessary, we will now make the figure known as well. You will agree with me; we have been very transparent in all we are doing and engaging you as we get along.”
The Works Minister , noted that 30km out of 70km of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Phase 1, Section 1, will be commissioned in May.
