The Coalition For Land Rights Advocacy in Nigeria (CLARAN), has called for the Federal Government intervention in the Compensation Injustice for Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project by ensuring that the Project Affected Persons (PAPs) received their just, fair, reasonable and adequate compensation.
The Chairman of the Trustees of CLARAN, Mr Olusola Enitan made the call at a news conference in Lagos.
Enitan, also an Estate Surveyor and Valuer, said that despite exhaustive attempts to address the issues of injustices, the government, through its agents, has shown a pattern of coercion and disregard for constitutional and legal rights.
He explained that in the last eight months, over 65 correspondences were sent by professional representatives of the PAPs to the Honourable Minister of Works, each highlighting the inadequacies and injustices within the current compensation framework.
According to him, despite these numerous communications, the Minister has refused to provide a single response, not even from the Legal Directorate of the Ministry. Instead, he continued to organise politically tainted stakeholder meetings where PAPs are subjected to bullying, shaming, and harassment.
He also highlighted the use of Professional Experts to circumvent Constitutional Responsibility and Failure to Comply with the Land Use Act of 1978 Under Section 29 and 30 of the Land Use Act of 1978, the Land Use and Allocations Committee is mandated to intervene in compensation disputes, providing a platform for arbitral intervention.
He said that the Honourable Minister of Works, Sen. David Umahi, openly placed his decisions to circumvent the constitution and the Land Use Act on the shoulders of his professional advisers, and when reminded that he and his professional advisers were in gross error of constitutional violation, he responded that his hands were tied.
“This project, purportedly presented to be in the public interest, has forcibly displaced numerous Nigerians, robbing them of their lands, homes, and livelihoods without compliance with the payment of just, fair, reasonable and adequate compensation as enshrined in our laws.
“We hereby challenge the Ministry of Works and its so called “professional experts” on compensation to present their valuations before a Joint Committee of Professional Peers, which should be superintended by reputable bodies such as the Estate Surveyors and Valuers Registration Board of Nigeria, the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigerian Environmental Society, and multilateral financing institutions like the World Bank.
“Only then can we properly assess the validity or otherwise, of these values against the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) and the Land Use Act of 1978, Enitan said.
Enitan noted that at a recent stakeholders’ summit called by the Minister and held at the Orchid Hall of Eko Hotel on Sunday Nov. 3, 2024, the issue of unreasonable, unjust and unfair compensation assessments and inadequacies was presented, along with the Ministry’s blatant violation of 16 binding judicial decisions of the Supreme Court and the Courts of Appeal, which only 2 weeks prior, had been brought to his attention as well as that of the Ministry of Works’ Director of Legal Services.
According to him, the Minister claimed his hands were tied, expressing reliance on advisers who assure him that these actions are lawful in brief presentations successively, while he declared he would obey the courts if directed, his dismissive stance is unacceptable and shows a clear and callous intent to delay justice through procedural obstacles, unnecessary bureaucracy, illegal and unlawful deflections.
“This deliberate stonewalling tactic defies both ethical and constitutional principles, disregarding the binding nature of established judicial rulings.
“We are left with no choice but to call upon the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to intervene.
” The Honourable Minister of Works must be held accountable, urged to honour judicial precedents, and compelled to comply with the compensation justice enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and the Land Use Act of 1978 by paying the Project Affected Parties their just, fair, reasonable and adequate compensation,” it said.
He further emphasised that Section 44 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) mandates fair and adequate compensation for any compulsory land acquisition.
He stated that Article 14 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which Nigeria is bound by, mandates fair compensation in cases of displacement, saying that the Nigerian judiciary has never failed to uphold the principle that Nigeria’s compensation laws must align with international human rights standards.
“The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project must not stand as a symbol of broken laws and betrayed citizens. PAPs deserve the full protection of Nigeria’s legal system, with compensation that restores their dignity, financial stability, and future,” he said.
