Ilaje stakeholders challenge Ondo coastal highway route as FG cites engineering constraints
Ilaje stakeholders in Ondo State are asking the Federal Government to restore what they describe as the original coastal alignment of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, alleging that the current route bypasses several shoreline communities.
The group, led by lawyer Dr Benson Enikuomehin, says communities including Ugbonla, Ilowo, Ilepete, Obe-Enikanoselu, Obe-Rewoye, Ikorigho, Jinrinwo, Awoye and Igho have been left outside the route they expected the highway to follow.
They argue that moving the road away from the shoreline would reduce the transport and economic benefits available to communities along Ondo’s coast.
Those remain stakeholder claims.
The public record reviewed by IDNN does not independently establish that all the named communities were formally included in an approved alignment and later removed.
Federal records show different Ondo route references
Federal Ministry of Works records referenced a 63km Ondo alignment in 2024.
Current reporting, however, refers to 52km now under construction in Ondo State.
The available documents do not establish whether those two figures use the same section boundaries or measurement basis.
That means the figures should not be treated as proof that 11 kilometres were removed from the Ondo route or from specific Ilaje communities.
FG says engineering considerations affected alignment
Works Minister David Umahi has said the government prefers to keep the highway on the coast where possible but that engineering conditions can affect the final alignment.
The Federal Government’s position is that technical considerations influenced changes to parts of the route.
That explanation does not resolve every question raised by Ilaje stakeholders about which settlements are directly served by the current alignment.
Ondo remains part of the project
The available evidence does not support a claim that Ondo State has been removed from the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
The Federal Government says construction is progressing on a section of the project in Ondo.
The dispute is therefore more specific: where exactly does the current Ondo alignment run, how does it compare with earlier plans, and which communities gain or lose direct access under the present design?
The missing route documents matter
Those questions can only be resolved with the underlying project documents.
The key records include the earlier Ondo alignment map, the current Section 4B engineering plan, any approved route-revision documents and the engineering studies used to support changes.
Those records would help establish whether the difference between earlier and current route descriptions reflects design changes, section boundaries, measurement differences or the exclusion of particular coastal settlements.
Ilaje stakeholders are entitled to ask what changed and why.
The Federal Government is also entitled to rely on engineering evidence where route adjustments are necessary.
The accountability test is whether the underlying plans and technical basis can be clearly shown to affected communities and the wider public.
For now, the safe position is that Ilaje stakeholders allege that several coastal communities have been bypassed, the Federal Government says engineering considerations influenced the alignment, and an Ondo section of the highway is under construction.
