Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has appealed to those whose properties were demolished as a result of the ongoing Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road project to show understanding with the Bola Tinubu administration.
Umahi said his properties have been demolished for some road projects in parts of the country.
He spoke on Sunday when he held a public engagement in the Victoria Island area of Lagos with stakeholders and homeowners whose properties were affected by the project.
The minister was accompanied by federal lawmakers inspecting ongoing infrastructure projects across the nation.
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Umahi said, “While the case is going on, we plead for your cooperation so that whatever the court says, we will obey. But please, let nobody take laws into his or her hands.
“I plead with you if you are offended by me or the ministry, please accept our apology. The coast highway must be on land and where there are issues like cables, we will do a flyover or refinery, we will do a flyover.
“In Port Harcourt, my property was also involved in the construction of East-West Road, totally demolished. In Aba, my property was also involved.
“Please, bear with me and know that we have nothing to benefit or hide.”
The minister said the final designs would be produced, insisting that the shoreline belongs to the Federal Government. “The beachside is not your land, the beachside belongs to the Federal Government,” he said.
The minister also said compensations would be paid to those whose houses were brought down.
The Lagos-Calabar Superhighway, estimated to cost about N15 trillion, is designed to connect Lagos to Cross River, passing through Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, and Akwa Ibom states, before culminating in Cross River.
The project, which has caused some buildings to be demolished, has attracted a barrage of intense criticisms from many Nigerians who strongly felt that the timing of the project was wrong but Umahi said the project is in the best interest of Nigerians.
