Femi Falana, SAN, has questioned the accountability surrounding the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
Falana, who spoke on Monday in Lagos, used the controversial multitrillion-naira road project to renew concerns about good governance and the state of Nigeria’s democracy.
“Coastal road has now become Land road….what of the N15 trillion earmarked for that road?
“We didn’t fight for this rickety democracy… that somebody will look at your face and say, oh, you should not vote, especially in Lagos,” Falana said.
The human rights lawyer charged Nigerians to defend their votes.
His remarks come amid growing public scrutiny of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, estimated at about N15 trillion.
The 700-kilometre highway is intended to connect Lagos with coastal communities across the South-West and South-South regions.
The project has, however, come under renewed controversy following the Federal Government’s decision to alter parts of its original route, raising questions about project planning, engineering assessments, procurement and the economic benefits expected by communities along the coastal corridor.
At the centre of the dispute is Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, who has defended the route changes.
Umahi argued that the difficult terrain makes construction more expensive and requires engineering interventions that cannot be compared with those of roads built on ordinary ground.
The minister explained that sections of the Ondo axis contained deep pits and lacked suitable sharp sand, necessitating extensive filling and ground improvement before the highway could be constructed.
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