Akwa Ibom's N10.3bn Housing Project Delayed as Governor Eno Warns of Contract Termination

More than two years after Akwa Ibom Governor Umo Eno laid the foundation for the Ewet Luxury Garden Estate in Uyo, the project has missed several completion dates. This has happened despite the project getting at least N10.32 billion in budget allocations.

The latest delay has led Mr Eno to threaten to terminate the contract with Western Legacy Investment Limited. He says the contractor must finish the remaining 35 buildings within three months.

An examination of the 2025 and 2026 Akwa Ibom budgets shows that N10.32 billion was set aside for parts of the luxury estate under the Akwa Ibom Investment Corporation (AKICORP).

In the 2025 budget, there is N4.434 billion for internal roads and external works at Ewet Luxury Gardens. There is also N5 billion for building 35 apartments, commercial offices, and a luxury park.

For the 2026 budget, the state has budgeted N886.18 million for the same 35 apartments, commercial offices, and the luxury park. The total budget for the project over two years is N10.32 billion.

PREMIUM TIMES could not find any specific budget allocation for the project in the 2024 approved and revised budget. This is surprising since the governor laid the foundation in July of that year.

The project is one of the key real estate investments of the Eno administration. They have often said that developing commercial properties is a way to earn money for the state.

But the delays, changing timelines, and lack of public information on the procurement process raise questions about how transparent the project is and how well it is being managed.

At the foundation-laying ceremony in July 2024, Mr Eno said the Ewet Luxury Garden was part of his plan to provide housing for different income levels. He called the estate a model for the planned Dakkada Luxury Estate. He said it would be a smart residential area for locals and Nigerians living abroad.

The governor mentioned that the project was mainly a business venture. The housing units would be sold directly to buyers. He said construction would start right away, beginning with a project office. He urged potential buyers, especially those overseas, to make inquiries early.

Mr Eno also said the project should be completed in eight months. This meant that the estate should have been ready by March 2025.

In October 2024, the Managing Director of AKICORP, Imo-Abasi Jacob, said the contractor had until March 2025 to finish and hand over the estate. But that deadline passed without completion.

In April 2026, the state government announced that the 35 duplexes would soon be ready for residents. Mr Eno, who visited the estate for his birthday breakfast, said the houses would be given to their owners within two months.

The contractor, Western Legacy Investment Limited, was reported to have been instructed to complete the project in 60 days. But the governor's latest order suggests that the April 2026 deadline was also missed.

On Sunday, Governor Eno expressed his displeasure with the work pace during an unplanned visit to the site after church. He ordered the contractor to speed up work and finish within three months.

He said the estate has 35 buildings. He told the Commissioner for Special Duties, Emem Bob, to ensure that 12 buildings were completed and handed over to the government each month, starting from September.

Mr Eno warned that he would terminate the contract if the targets were not met. "I am not pleased with the state of this project," the governor said. "This project is well overdue for handing over to those who have bought these houses." He also ordered that the construction of porch roofs on the buildings should stop.

This threat of termination is the latest move by the government to push the contractor to complete a project that was supposed to take only eight months but has been ongoing for over two years.

The state government previously described the project as a high-end residential development with 35 units, consisting of five-bedroom detached duplexes and other facilities.

At the foundation-laying ceremony, the then Commissioner for Housing, Raphael Bassey, said the development would include residential buildings, boys’ quarters, recreational areas, walkways, a multipurpose hall for 100 people, office facilities, parking, a security house, and a central power plant.

The project sits on 3.5 hectares of land. Mr Jacob, the AKICORP managing director, said the estate was meant to generate revenue and attract investors to "come, live and work" in Akwa Ibom.

Despite the N10.3 billion budget for the project, the government has not made public how much of that budget has been released or paid to Western Legacy Investment Limited.

This information could help clarify whether the slow work pace is due to lack of funds, delayed payments, or other issues. Without payment details, it is hard to know if the contractor’s failure to meet deadlines is from funding problems or their own performance.

The governor's latest inspection and threat to terminate the contract show that the government believes the contractor is responsible for the delay. But the state has not shared details about its financial commitments under the contract or if they have been met.

Western Legacy Investment Limited is the contractor for the Ewet Luxury Garden project. They are also working on the controversial 18-storey Ibom Tower project in Lagos, which has a budget of N41.05 billion.

PREMIUM TIMES recently reported that the state government has not disclosed important procurement information about the Ibom Tower project. This includes bidding documents, the number of companies that took part, evaluation reports, award documents, and the contract amount.

Checks by PREMIUM TIMES at the Corporate Affairs Commission show that Western Legacy Construction was registered in Nigeria on 11 July 2023, about two months after Mr Eno took office and around a year before the Ewet Luxury Garden project began.

The company was also registered about 15 months before the Ibom Tower project started in November 2024, according to earlier reports.

PREMIUM TIMES could not find any public bidding records for the Ewet Luxury Garden contract on the Akwa Ibom State Government’s procurement portal or official website.

The records reviewed do not show other procurement information that would help the public understand how the contractor was chosen. This includes bidding details, evaluations, the contract sum, and other terms.

This lack of information is concerning since the project has received budget provisions in the billions and has missed its original deadline by over a year.

The project was meant to be a commercial venture to earn money for the state, with the houses sold to buyers. But over two years after the groundbreaking, the estate has not been handed over to the buyers.

The government acknowledged the delay when Mr Eno said the project was "well overdue" for handover. His latest three-month ultimatum sets yet another deadline for a project that has already missed at least two previous completion dates.

PREMIUM TIMES could not get a response from Western Legacy Investment Limited. The company does not seem to have a public website to reach its management for comments.

It is unclear if the contractor accepts blame for the delays or if it has raised issues with the government about funding, design changes, or other problems affecting the project.

In April, the Managing Director of Western Legacy Investment Limited, Kunle Adelipa, said the company had orders to finish the project in 60 days and promised to meet that deadline.

The governor's latest inspection shows that the project is still not finished months after that assurance. The Ewet Luxury Garden Estate is one of several major projects under the Eno administration that have gone past their initial timelines.

The state government is facing questions about the transparency and execution of other big projects, including the N41.05 billion Ibom Tower in Lagos. The new ultimatum puts pressure on Western Legacy Investment Limited to deliver 12 completed buildings every month from September.

Whether the contractor meets that target and if the government will share the financial and contractual details of the project with at least N10.32 billion set aside in two years will show if the governor's latest threat leads to a different outcome from the past deadlines.