Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
A Senior Adviser to United States President Donald Trump for Arab and African Affairs, Massad Boulos, has fired back at viral social media allegations linking his commercial interests to the controversial Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project, threatening those responsible with both civil defamation suits and criminal prosecution under Nigeria’s cybercrime laws.
In a cease-and-desist letter issued by his Nigerian legal team, led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Kemi Pinheiro, Boulos denied ever benefiting from any federal allocation tied to the 700-kilometre infrastructure project, dismissing the claims as “false, baseless, and a figment of the author’s imagination.” The letter warned bloggers, social media users and media platforms that continued circulation of the defamatory content would trigger immediate legal proceedings, including defamation lawsuits, demands for substantial damages and criminal complaints under the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention etc.) Amendment Act, 2024.
The controversy erupted after a series of videos circulated online linking Boulos to a contract for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road. The federal government awarded the multibillion-dollar project to Hitech Construction Company Ltd., a division of the Chagoury Group owned by Lebanese-Nigerian tycoon Gilbert Chagoury, a long-time ally of President Bola Tinubu. The social media reports alleged that SCOA Nigeria, a heavy-duty truck and machinery dealership where Boulos serves as Chief Executive Officer, supplied equipment to Hitech in connection with the project. Boulos, a Lebanese citizen who has operated in Nigeria for decades, holds direct financial and managerial interests in the company. An investigation into his business ties had previously confirmed that SCOA Nigeria supplies machinery to Hitech, establishing what critics described as a clear financial linkage between Boulos’s commercial interests and a major Nigerian government contractor.
The viral allegations went further, claiming that President Trump had remained silent on governance and security issues in Nigeria because of the direct financial benefit Boulos’s company derived from the Tinubu administration. The cease-and-desist letter rejected those claims outright. “Our clients have not received, appropriated, or benefitted from any such exaggerated or fictitious sums from the federal government or any other entity whatsoever,” Pinheiro wrote on behalf of the Boulos family and SCOA Nigeria Plc. The lawyers said the publications have caused “serious harm” to the reputation and business standing of both the family and the company, expressing particular concern over the rapid spread of the defamatory content across multiple platforms.
The letter demanded the immediate removal of all videos, posts and related materials from social media, and ordered individuals and entities involved in sharing or amplifying the allegations to cease further publication. It warned that failure to comply would leave the clients with no option but to institute legal proceedings without further notice. The legal team indicated it is prepared to pursue defamation claims for substantial damages for reputational harm and emotional distress, and also flagged the possibility of criminal complaints under the Cybercrime Act, particularly provisions relating to cyberbullying, online harassment and the dissemination of false information. Pre‑action correspondence of this nature is often a precursor to full‑scale defamation litigation in high‑profile Nigerian cases.
The Boulos family’s legal broadside lands at a moment of intense public scrutiny of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road Project. The 750‑kilometre highway, which the federal government has described as a legacy infrastructure initiative under President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, has been beset by controversy over its cost, its route and the no‑bid award of the contract to Hitech. In fact, the project has already attracted other legal challenges. Landowners in Okun-Ajah community have cried out to the federal and Lagos state governments over alleged illegal variation to the highway route, which they claim has put about 2,000 homes at risk of demolition. Another federal suit on the project was recently struck out.
Boulos’s position as Trump’s senior adviser has brought unusual international attention to the dispute. Appointed by Trump to shape United States policy on the African continent, Boulos has faced persistent questions about potential conflicts of interest between his diplomatic role and his long‑standing business operations in Nigeria. Critics have noted that his company supplies equipment to the Chagoury Group, whose billionaire head Gilbert Chagoury has been explicitly identified as a confidante of President Tinubu and a major beneficiary of no‑bid government contracts. An investigative report published by Street Reporters in April 2026 alleged that Boulos’s own corporate defence statements had already confirmed that his company supplies equipment to Chagoury’s construction arm, establishing what the report described as a direct financial linkage between a US presidential adviser and a major Tinubu government contractor. The same investigative piece accused the Trump administration of allowing its Africa policy to be “captured” by a Tinubu‑linked Lebanese‑Nigerian billionaire network, a charge firmly rejected by Boulos’s legal team in their cease‑and‑desist letter.
The escalating row over Boulos’s alleged role in the coastal road contract has also dragged in the Chagoury family. Gilbert Chagoury and his business empire have been no strangers to international controversy. The Lebanese‑Nigerian tycoon was previously convicted in Switzerland for money laundering linked to the Abacha loot, and he has been flagged by the FBI over suspected Hezbollah ties as well as a campaign finance settlement with the US Department of Justice. Despite that record, Chagoury remains a close associate of President Tinubu, and his company, Hitech, was awarded the multibillion‑naira Lagos-Calabar coastal highway without competitive bidding.
The Boulos family has insisted throughout that it has no connection whatsoever to the fraud allegations circulating online. The cease‑and‑desist letter not only targets the original publishers of the videos but also warns secondary sharers and amplifiers of the content that they too may face legal action. In a country where defamation has been aggressively deployed by the powerful to silence an increasingly combative social media landscape, the decision to sue is a high‑stakes strategy.
On the streets of Lagos and Abuja, the controversy over Boulos’s role has been met with a mixture of outrage, cynicism and disbelief. The perception that a close associate of President Trump could be profiting from a major Nigerian government contract while simultaneously shaping White House policy on Africa has deepened popular cynicism about the conduct of public officials and their business allies. Some Nigerians have responded to the legal threat with defiance, insisting that the right to scrutinise government contracts is a fundamental part of democratic accountability. Others argue that if the allegations are genuinely false, the courts are the proper forum for vindication, pointing to the heavy burden of proof required to win a defamation case in Nigeria.
Whatever the outcome of the threatened litigation, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road Project is already shaping up to be a defining theatre of accountability for the Tinubu administration. For Boulos, the stakes are equally high: his reputation, his family’s corporate standing and his effectiveness as a White House adviser have all been thrown into question by the viral videos. His refusal to take the allegations lying down signals that he is prepared to fight back with all legal instruments at his disposal.
The Federal Government, which has repeatedly defended its decision to award the contract without competitive bidding, has not yet commented on the Boulos allegations. President Trump, who has often spoken about his son‑in‑law’s relative, has also remained silent. But with lawyers, bloggers, cybercrime prosecutors and senators now all circling the same controversy, the storm over the Lagos-Calabar coastal road has moved far beyond the boundaries of the project itself. And Massad Boulos, for all his legal threats, cannot afford to lose.
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