Lagos-Calabar Highway: Court strikes out Winhomes suit against FG

By Lydia Chigozie-Ngwakwe

The Federal High Court in Ikoyi, Lagos, has struck out a suit filed by Winhomes Estate Global Services Ltd. against the attorney-general of the federation and minister of justice and four others over the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

The Chief Executive Officer of Winhomes, Ifeoma Okengwu, and her company had asked the court to stop the Federal Ministry of Works from using a portion of land the company claimed belonged to it for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

They also asked the court to award them 250 million dollars as damages.

Justice Akintayo Aluko who heard the suit held that Winhomes had already sold or transferred its interest in the land to third parties.

Aluko added that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear the case.

He said the plaintiffs’ claims were centred on land use and allegations of trespass which fell outside the court’s powers under Section 251 of the Constitution.

The judge also held that the plaintiffs lacked the legal right to file the case since they admitted in their documents that they had sold their interest in the land to third parties.

Aluko also held that the plaintiffs failed to show any reasonable cause of action against the defendants.

Winhomes Estate Global Services Ltd. had acquired a parcel of land from a local community on the Lagos shoreline.

The land falls within the path of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project and was marked for demolition after valuation.

However, the company refused to give up the land and demanded that the highway design should be changed to avoid the undeveloped plots.

According to the Ministry, the judgment has laid to rest what it described as campaigns of calumny against the Minister of Works, Sen. Dave Umahi, and other officials of the ministry by Winhomes Estate Global Services Ltd.

(NAN)