Coastal highway rerouting breaches procurement laws — ADC candidate

The African Democratic Congress candidate for Ondo East/Ondo West Federal Constituency, Niyi Akingunola, has accused the Federal Government of violating procurement and appropriation laws over the alleged rerouting of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway away from parts of Ondo State.

Akingunola, in a statement issued on Monday, called on the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to ensure strict compliance with the legal and regulatory procedures governing the project.

He argued that any alteration to the approved route, design or cost during implementation must follow the required procedures, including obtaining fresh approvals where necessary.

‎He said, “It is outright illegality for a procuring entity to vary a project’s design and cost in the course of projects implementation without recourse to the National Assembly that approved it in the first place.”

Akingunola said the original design had undergone procurement procedures, including the issuance of a certificate of no objection by the Bureau of Public Procurement and budget approval by the National Assembly.

“‎Before any project modification can be allowed to succeed under any guise, and in this context, a new Bill of Engineering Measurement and Evaluation Environmental Impact Assessment and cost estimate must be regenerated and sent to the BPP for onward transmission to the National Assembly for reappropriation; anything short of this is in its entirety a breach of the Appropriation Act and extant procurement regulations,” he added.

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The ADC candidate also questioned Umahi’s explanation that the original route crossed terrain with pits more than 100 metres deep, which the minister said would significantly increase construction costs.

Akingunola maintained that such challenges should have been identified during feasibility studies and reflected in the project’s engineering and cost documents.

He said the highway could boost Ondo State’s economy through agriculture, food security, tourism, the blue economy, industrial development and improved access to ports and wider markets.

He urged residents of the state and their representatives in the National Assembly to demand compliance with the relevant laws and ensure that the state’s interests were protected.

The controversy followed Umahi’s explanation that President Bola Tinubu had directed that the highway’s continuation from Ondo into Edo State should use the existing East-West Road rather than a new alignment.

Umahi has defended the engineering decision, citing difficult terrain and construction costs, while insisting that the Federal Government has not abandoned the 750-kilometre coastal highway project. The minister said surveying and design work was continuing on sections where major construction had yet to begin.