The Federal Government announced on Thursday that it will compensate each property owner along the 700 km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway’s route through nine states.
President Bola Tinubu has approved the payment of compensation to all affected property owners, said Minister of Works David Umahi. He also enumerated the prerequisites that impacted residents must fulfill to be eligible for the settlement.
Furthermore, Umahi stated that the government has extended the notice of eviction for property owners affected by the multi-trillion naira project. He clarified that the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway will likely cost N15.36 trillion, or N4.39 billion, per kilometer.
Umahi added that the project will see completion within eight years.
The 700 km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project will connect Lagos to Cross River, traveling through the coastal states of Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom.
Speaking at a stakeholders meeting with impacted Lagos citizens, Umahi said the Works Ministry will only compensate worthy individuals using authorized documentation. He stated the damaged buildings have undergone an environmental impact assessment appraisal, but owners of illegal and shantytown buildings will not receive compensation.
According to him, “The Federal Ministry of Works will pay compensation and the President has directed me to pay compensation but we are not going to pay anything to those living in the shanties.
“When you put up a building on a land that is not your own then you are not entitled for compensation. If your property is not approved, you are not entitled for compensation, but the President is a man of good heart and so I think we would still pay compensation to some persons because of the hardship in the country.
“But I repeat, shanties or unapproved buildings won’t be paid but we would try to save solid properties as much as possible.”
Umahi added that in response to the ongoing hardship in the nation, the President ordered the creation of a compensation plan.