- By Halimah Olamide
The Presidency on Monday described as hollow the remark by former President Atiku Abubakar over the coastal Highway from Lagos to Calabar.
The presidency said Atiku has raised faulty assumptions about the project thereby demonstrating his lack of knowledge of the essence of the project.
In a statement by Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to the President on Media, he said Atiku was desperate to always want to hug the headlines as a self-appointed opposition leader.
In what Onanuga called “his futile attempt, to denigrate and find faults in the audacious and transformational Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway project, which was recently inaugurated as one of the signature projects of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration, he said there have been positive appraisals for the project against Atiku’s expectations.
“To Atiku’s chagrin and utter disappointment, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway has been rightly praised for the huge economic impact it will create and how it will be a game-changer in improving the quality of life of Nigerians, especially the economy of the nine coastal states it will pass through. Importantly, the road will boost agricultural and tourism economy on a grand scale.
“Seeking to be a kill-joy, Atiku Abubakar engaged in red-herring by raising ill-thought-out allegations that only exposed his inadequacies and those of his team in getting the basic facts on an issue he badly seeks to nail the government,” he said
He said the presidency has decided to respond to Atiku’s misrepresentation of facts in matters of the coastal road to set the record straight.
The contract that was awarded was that of Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail. The rail was designed as part of the standard guage national rail network. The contract was awarded on August 4, 2021 by the Federal Executive Council presided over by former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN at the cost of $11.17billion. The contract was to be completed in six years. The project didn’t take off.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail project has always been on the card. It was another testament of the failure of the previous PDP-led government that it could not get it off the ground in 16 years it held sway.
He said Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway and Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail are two distinct projects.
“It is unfortunate that the former Vice President is confused about the two projects.
“President Tinubu should be praised for having the courage to embark on this transformative project and not vilified as Atiku Abubakar unsuccessfully sought to do,” he said