Lagos Estate Owners Seek Tinubu’s Intervention

Owners of Winhomes Estate, a $250 million Diaspora-funded development project in Lagos, have appealed to President Bola Tinubu to intervene by calling the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to order over the alleged demolition of their properties in the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway corridor.

At the project inspection in Lagos, the minister said that “only about four hectares of Winhomes Estate land were affected by the Lagos-Calabar highway alignment.”

He added, “The matter has gone beyond the Ministry of Works. The Lagos State government has revoked the land, and the court has ruled in our favour. I never called WinHomes for any negotiation. The case is closed.”

But in a statement directed to the President, the company’s chief executive, Stella Okengwu, a United States citizen and award-winning Nigerian Diaspora investor, alleged that the Minister’s public statements and physical actions regarding the estate’s demolition violated constitutional principles, undermined judicial independence, and exposed the presidency to reputational risks.

According to her, the Minister had repeatedly invoked the President’s name in a matter already before a court of competent jurisdiction — a conduct she said “is improper, dangerous, and exposes the esteemed office of the President to unnecessary domestic and international controversies.”

“This matter is sub judice. By tying your name to his actions, he has placed the presidency in the line of legal and diplomatic fire,” she said, noting that Section 1(3) of the 1999 Constitution remains supreme over all office holders.

Okengwu explained that the project, conceived in 2021, was designed as a tourism-led development model aimed at inspiring Diaspora Nigerians to reinvest in their homeland. Backed by hundreds of investors abroad and foreign partners, the project sits on 20 hectares of legally acquired land in Lagos, with three valid titles and 2,500 fully serviced plots, each valued at N150 million.

She disclosed that the project’s total value is N375 billion (approximately $250 million), representing one of the largest Diaspora-backed real estate investments in the country.

However, according to Okengwu, the diversion of the coastal highway project has already affected 400 plots valued at N60 billion, while cumulative damages and infrastructural losses are estimated at N85 billion.

“This is Diaspora sweat, real capital, and tangible infrastructure — now endangered by ministerial overreach,” she lamented.

In the ongoing court case, she accused Umahi of making false claims that judgment had been delivered in favour of the Federal Government, stating that the matter — Suit No. FHC/L/CS/10063/25 — remains pending before Justice Akintayo Aluko at the Federal High Court, Ikoyi.

Citing the 1986 Supreme Court ruling in Governor of Lagos v. Ojukwu, she said no party, including the government, has the right to take the law into its own hands during litigation. “The Minister’s physical visit to the disputed site and his public declaration that he has taken the land himself is contemptuous and unconstitutional,” she asserted.

The developer raised concerns about reports that private developers had allegedly approached the Minister to purchase parts of the estate, warning that such actions would amount to fraudulent interference with private property and destroy Nigeria’s foreign investment credibility.

While calling for immediate compensation and public correction of misinformation, she told Tinubu, “This is your moment to show that Renewed Hope is not a slogan but a covenant of justice.

“Either we protect the Constitution and Nigeria’s investment future or allow ministerial impunity to erode trust built over decades.”