Odita Sunday 
HURIWA Demands International Forensic Audit of Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Describes N7.5bn Per Kilometre Cost as “Economic Assault on Nigerians”
By Odita Sunday
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has called for an immediate international forensic audit of the controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, describing the reported cost of N7.5 billion per kilometre as a “monumental economic heist” that raises serious concerns about transparency, accountability and fiscal responsibility in Nigeria.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Tuesday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadizie Onwubiko, the rights advocacy group said it was deeply alarmed and scandalised by disclosures credited to the Minister of Works, David Umahi, indicating that the ambitious coastal highway project would gulp an average of N7.5 billion for every kilometre constructed.
HURIWA said the figure had triggered widespread concern among citizens, economists, procurement experts and transparency advocates, insisting that the cost profile appeared outrageously excessive when compared with similar infrastructure projects executed in other parts of the world.
According to the association, the reported expenditure represents one of the most controversial and suspicious public infrastructure spending figures witnessed in Nigeria’s recent democratic history.
The group accused the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of presiding over what it described as an opaque and dangerously inflated public spending regime at a time millions of Nigerians were struggling with economic hardship, rising inflation, widespread unemployment and worsening living conditions.
HURIWA lamented that while ordinary Nigerians continued to grapple with escalating food prices, transportation costs, electricity tariffs and the weakening value of the naira, the government expected citizens to accept without question a highway project allegedly costing N7.5 billion per kilometre.
“This is unacceptable. This is morally offensive. This is economically provocative. And this demands immediate independent international scrutiny,” the organisation declared.
The association therefore called on patriotic institutions, civil society groups and professional bodies across the country to urgently unite and subject the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to comprehensive forensic investigation and public accountability review.
Among the groups HURIWA urged to take action are the Nigerian Bar Association, the Nigeria Labour Congress, anti-corruption coalitions, engineers, economists, procurement specialists, development partners and transparency advocacy organisations.
According to HURIWA, the proposed forensic audit must comprehensively examine every aspect of the project, including procurement procedures, engineering valuation reports, financing agreements, environmental impact assessments, tolling arrangements, compensation payments, land acquisition costs and the identities of contractors, consultants and financial beneficiaries linked to the highway development.
The group further insisted that comparative cost analysis should be conducted between the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and similar international infrastructure projects in order to determine whether the figures being quoted align with global construction standards and economic realities.
HURIWA also demanded that the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act be immediately invoked to compel the release of all contractual and financial documents associated with the project.
“The Nigerian people cannot continue to be treated as spectators while public resources disappear behind grandiose infrastructure propaganda,” the statement noted.
The organisation argued that countries with more advanced infrastructure systems and stronger regulatory frameworks, including China, South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and the United States, routinely deliver major highway projects at comparatively lower costs despite deploying more advanced engineering technologies and stricter safety systems.
According to the group, it was therefore impossible for “patriotic Nigerians not to question the logic, transparency and integrity” of a project whose financial profile appeared disconnected from prevailing local economic conditions and international benchmarks.
HURIWA also expressed concern over comments allegedly made by the Minister of Works linking infrastructure development to future electoral expectations and political reciprocity.
The association warned that any suggestion that regions should politically “repay” the President for executing federally funded infrastructure projects raised dangerous constitutional, ethical and democratic concerns.
“Public infrastructure is funded with taxpayers’ money — not personal charity from political office holders. Federal roads are constitutional obligations of government — not partisan gifts designed to purchase loyalty ahead of elections,” the group stated.
HURIWA further warned that many Nigerians were becoming increasingly apprehensive that massive public borrowing, opaque infrastructure financing arrangements and aggressive project announcements could be connected to broader political calculations ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The association maintained that unchecked spending without transparent oversight could create fertile grounds for institutional compromise, abuse of public resources and entrenched political patronage.
Consequently, the group called on the National Assembly of Nigeria to immediately commence public investigative hearings into the project.
It also urged the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to closely monitor all financial flows connected to the highway project, while calling on the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission to independently review procurement compliance processes.
In addition, HURIWA appealed to professional engineering bodies to carry out independent technical evaluations of the project and urged international anti-corruption and transparency institutions to scrutinise the financing structure behind the coastal highway development.
The organisation further demanded that all future disbursements linked to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway be temporarily suspended pending the outcome of independent forensic audits and public accountability hearings.
According to the association, no democratic government should expect public applause while citizens continue to suffer economic hardship and mounting public debt burdens without adequate transparency regarding how borrowed funds are being spent.
“No responsible government should expect applause while Nigerians are buried under economic pain and public debt. No patriotic citizen should remain silent when questions surrounding one of the most expensive road projects in Nigeria’s history continue to multiply daily,” the statement added.
HURIWA stressed that demanding accountability should never be interpreted as political opposition or sabotage, insisting that public scrutiny remains an essential pillar of democratic governance.
“Accountability is not opposition. Transparency is not sabotage. Public scrutiny is not hatred. Democracy demands answers. Nigeria belongs to the people — not to a political elite treating public funds as instruments of power retention and political dominance. The time for silence is over,” the group declared.
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