A rival group of the pan-Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, has called for the impeachment of President Bola Tinubu on allegations of gross conflict of interest in the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway contract.
The group leader, Oba Oladipo Olaitan, in an interview with Journalists, condemned the recent public announcement by Tinubu that Gilbert Chagoury, the contractor on the project, was his “partner” during the inauguration of the 30-kilometre Phase 1, Section 1 of the highway last Saturday.
Tinubu had also praised the Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company, part of the Chagoury Group, as a “symbol of courage and commitment.” “To the contractors and my partner in daring, it was tough for us… We came together to tame the Atlantic,” the President said.
Oba Olaitan was angry at the announcement, calling it a confession of improper conduct. He accused the contract of having been granted without competitive tender and appeared to have been specifically meant to benefit the Chagoury Group’s Eko Atlantic City—a gigantic real estate development built on reclaimed land from the Atlantic Ocean.
“What President Tinubu is doing is building a road to his own Atlantic City,” Olaitan explained. “He openly stated that the contractor is his business partner. That means he awarded a federal contract to himself. That road was not made open for bidding. It is a shame to the nation. If we had a true independent National Assembly, they would have initiated impeachment proceedings forthwith.”
He also questioned the timing of the project’s inauguration, noting that less than 4% (4% of the projected 700-kilometre road) of the intended highway had already been commissioned. “Why commission just that little part? That highway leads them straight to their private development. If that part has already been done, they will abandon the rest. This is clear conflict of interest,” he asserted.
Afenifere leader summoned the National Assembly to action, warning that silence would amount to complicity. “The National Assembly must show that it is not complicit. If they are autonomous, then let them act today. We cannot accept this. The President has admitted to a breach of public trust,” he stated.
Responding, Lagos State APC chapter decried the call for impeachment as baseless. The spokesman of the party, Seye Oladejo, dismissed the allegation as a deliberate misinterpretation of Tinubu’s remark.
“I will just take that as an exaggeration,” Oladejo said. “Maybe they should go to their dictionary and find out what ‘partner’ is. Did he say business partner? He called them ‘partners in boldness’—people who were convinced by his vision and joined him in taking it forward.”
Oladejo contended that due process had been followed in the signing of the contract and called for critics to employ standard legal and legislative means rather than insisting on impeachment.
The matter has fired up demands for transparency in major infrastructure projects during President Tinubu’s government. Critics aver that non-competitive bidding destroys public confidence, while proponents posit the project is essential for national development.
Under mounting pressure, all eyes are now on the National Assembly to determine whether parliamentarians will seriously take Afenifere’s attention as a matter of national constitution or not regard it as politically motivated rhetoric.
