According to Punch, a faction of the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has stirred a political storm by demanding the impeachment of President Bola Tinubu over his public remarks linking him personally to the contractor executing the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project. The group described Tinubu’s declaration as a self-damaging admission of conflict of interest, sparking renewed debate over transparency and accountability in the award of federal contracts.
Oba Oladipo Olaitan, leader of the Afenifere faction, criticized Tinubu for openly referring to the project’s contractor, Gilbert Chagoury, as his “partner in daring,” during the recent inauguration of a 30-kilometre segment of the controversial coastal highway. The road, being handled by Hitech Construction—a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group and the same firm behind the Eko Atlantic City project—has been the focus of increasing scrutiny over its procurement process and potential benefit to private interests.
Olaitan expressed outrage, calling the president’s acknowledgment a blatant admission of using public office to advance personal alliances. According to him, awarding a multibillion-naira federal infrastructure project without an open and competitive bidding process was indefensible and potentially unconstitutional. He argued that the road, which critics claim appears to lead directly to the Eko Atlantic City—a real estate megaproject associated with Chagoury—serves private gains under the guise of national development.
“This is no longer speculation; the president himself has called the contractor his partner. That effectively means he awarded a federal project to himself,” Olaitan said. He added that with only a small fraction of the road commissioned—roughly four per cent—it raises fears that the government may abandon the rest of the coastal highway once it reaches the private development site.
“The government has no interest in completing the entire project,” he asserted. “It’s a strategic ploy to pave access to a private enclave disguised as a national road. If the National Assembly fails to act, then they are complicit in this abuse of power.”
He called on the legislature to begin impeachment proceedings immediately, insisting that Tinubu’s admission constitutes a breach of public trust and an abuse of office.
He said; “I am calling on the National Assembly to start the impeachment process now if they are a truly independent and vibrant national assembly and if they are not equally complicit.”
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