The Federal Government’s commencement of the construction of the 700km Lagos-Calabar coastal road, undertaken by Hitech Construction Company Ltd, a firm under the Chagoury Group, has sparked controversy due to the involvement of Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, in the project.

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar raised concerns over the award of the contract, alleging a conflict of interest between President Tinubu and Gilbert Chagoury, the owner of Hitech Construction Company.

“Thanks to quality reporting by Africa Intelligence, our suspicions have been confirmed that Chagoury and Tinubu are indeed business partners and it has been formalized with Seyi on the board of one of Chagoury’s firms,” Atiku stated.

He also said that “The awarding of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway was rushed; the environmental impact assessment report was not even completed; the right of way for the 700 km stretch of the highway project was not secured; it was converted from a PPP to a government-funded project within the twinkle of an eye,”

However, the Presidency dismissed these claims, asserting that Seyi Tinubu’s position on the board of CDK Integrated Industries, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, poses no conflict of interest.

In a statement signed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, said “The fact that his father is now the President of Nigeria does not disqualify Seyi from pursuing legitimate business interests…the Chagourys are minority shareholders in the company, and only one member of the clan is on its five-man board.”

“We wonder how Seyi’s membership of the board of CDK conflicts with Hitech Construction Company’s work on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal superhighway.”

“How can an elder statesman be waging a campaign of calumny against the economic fortunes and prosperity of a country he wishes to govern or trying to scuttle a project that will bring prosperity to nine coastal states and the nation in general?”

Netizens took to Twitter to express their dissatisfaction with the situation:

@ZackTheMarketar commented, “Seyi Tinubu is involved in Coastal Highway project awarded by his father Tinubu but guess what, one Sodiq living in a rat-infested open-air prison called home is very much okay with it. As long as Tinubu speaks his language and worships the same God as him, everything is perfect.”

@ArewaTwiter wrote, “If not for Atiku, nobody would’ve known Seyi Tinubu is a beneficiary of that 15 trillion contracts that have no competitive bidding.”

@eduhandsome_ also added, “By the time Seyi Tinubu & his father Thiefnubu are done with Yoruba Ronu fools & the entire retards fanning their incompetence in this country eh. Y’all will wake up to no future for your kids, yea those useless kids of yours that y’all are raising with BIGOTRY.”

@Franeb joined, “Seyi Tinubu is sitting pretty on the board of Chaghoury’s company HiTECH. But it’s me that has to pray for Tinubu to succeed? This is why that whole conversation vexed my spirit. This Man has planted his people and waited for this moment his whole life to Bleed the country dry.”

@Nnanyelugo13 posted, “By the time Seyi Tinubu, Tinubu himself finishes with Nigeria, we will become the coastal highway.”

@JakesOlasupo also asserted,”Let Seyi Tinubu go and pursue his legitimate business interest elsewhere, not with the resources of the country. He’s making enough money from what his father stole from Lagos state already.”

@Nithsmit: “For the presidency to confirm that it’s true then they don’t rate Nigerians. How can you award a multi-billion contract to a company that the son of the president is a board member? As it stands, I can say they’re using the contract to loot public funds because this is a political contract.”

@RealQueenBee__: “These people will turn Nigeria upside down and by the time they’re done, things will no longer be the same. Imagine even the failure Buhari didn’t get his son involved in governance, I guess you guys are missing Buhari already.”

@VubacosmsVic compared the situation to that of the US president and his son, “Biden is being investigated for being the VP when his son was made a board member of a company in a foreign country that has nothing to do with America but it is normal in Nigeria for a president to award a contract worth billions of $s to a company where his son is a board member.”

@MrSam_UJ quipped, “APC are no longer hiding corruption, they are happy to do it in the open! Do your worst Nigeria!”