Lagos-Calabar Highway: Court Adjourns Hearing On Validity of Award Till Jan 27
Justice A. O. Owoeye of a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos, Tuesday, fixed January 27, 2025, for the hearing on the environmental impact and validity or otherwise of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project.
The judge adjourned the case after resolving the issue of appearance for the second defendant and granted an extension of time to the parties to enable them to regularise their processes.
A former Lagos State governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Funsho Doherty, had dragged the Attorney General of the Federation, the Bureau of Public Procurement, and HiTech Construction Company before the court over the lack of open competitive bidding.
Doherty alleged that the Federal Ministry of Works violated the Public Procurement Act 2007 by awarding the first two phases of the highway to Hitech Construction through a single-source procurement process, bypassing the required open competitive bidding.
He further claimed that the construction began without the required Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), thereby breaching the Environmental Impact Assessment Act 1992.
The plaintiff is seeking a declaration that the award of the first two sections of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project by the Federal Ministry of Works to the third defendant, without subjecting it to open competitive bidding, was unlawful and void, being in breach of the Public Procurement Act 2007.
He also asked the court to declare the commencement of construction without first undertaking an EIA as unlawful and a breach of the EIA Act 1992. Furthermore, he requested a declaration that the Federal Ministry of Environment and the second defendant failed in their statutory duties of ensuring compliance with the EIA Act and the Public Procurement Act.
On the last adjourned date, November 18, 2024, the first and second defendants were represented by Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), but his appearance for both parties was opposed by the plaintiff’s counsel, D. D. Duru, who argued that the second defendant’s separate counsel should appear, as it is an independent institution.
When the case came up on Tuesday, Duru informed the court that the issue of appearance for the second defendant (the Bureau of Public Procurement) was the matter for the day.
A new counsel, I. J. Okechukwu, who appeared for the first defendant, told the court that the issue of appearance for the second defendant had been resolved. Okechukwu also applied to withdraw an earlier application filed on behalf of the second defendant and retain only the name of the first defendant. The court granted his prayers.
Meanwhile, the third defendant’s counsel, Oyinkansola Badejo-Okunsanya, sought leave to file and reply on points of law to the plaintiff’s written address in opposition to the third defendant’s preliminary objection. There were no objections to this application.
Consequently, the judge adjourned the hearing of all the processes to January 27, 2025.
Post Disclaimer
All rights reserved. This material and other digital content on this website are not and do not represent the stance of National Periscope but the statements of newsmakers mentioned therein.
For your detailed news reportage... contact the Editor at Joel2oladele@gmail.com