Afenifere urges NASS to launch impeachment proceedings against Tinubu over coastal highway project

The Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, has called on the National Assembly to initiate impeachment proceedings against President Bola Tinubu, citing alleged conflict of interest in the award of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway contract.

Speaking on behalf of the group, Afenifere’s leader, Oladipo Olaitan, criticized Tinubu’s recent remarks during the commissioning of Kilometer 1, Phase 1, Section 1 of the project, where the president publicly acknowledged his partnership with the contractor overseeing the highway’s construction, Gilbert Chagoury.

“All President Tinubu is doing is building a road to his own Atlantic City,” Olaitan told PUNCH.”He openly said the contractor is his partner. That means he awarded a federal contract to himself.”

Olaitan questioned the decision to inaugurate only a limited segment of the 700-kilometre highway, alleging that the administration may not intend to complete the entire stretch once the section leading to Atlantic City is finished.

“Why commission just four per cent of the road? That road leads straight to their private development. If that part is done, they may abandon the rest. This is a clear conflict of interest,” he said.

Calling for legislative accountability, Olaitan pressed lawmakers to demonstrate their independence by acting on the matter.

“The National Assembly must prove that it is not complicit. If they are truly independent, they must act now. We cannot condone this. This is not how to run a democracy. The president has admitted to a breach of public trust.””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. We can’t condone such a thing,” he added.

Recall that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project is being executed by Hitech Construction Company, which is owned by the Chagoury Group. The firm is also behind the Eko Atlantic City project, a high-profile real estate development on land reclaimed from the Atlantic Ocean.

During the project’s commissioning, President Tinubu commended Hitech Construction and its leadership, referring to the effort as a bold undertaking.

“To the contractors and my partner in daring, it was tough for us… We came together to tame the Atlantic,” Tinubu said.

The highway project is estimated at N15 trillion and is planned to span nine coastal states: Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Lagos.