The presidency has slammed former Vice President Atiku Abubakar over his stance on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, saying he has allowed himself to be led into a blind alley by his ill-informed aides in his “desperation to always want to hug the headlines as a self-appointed opposition leader”.
According to the presidency, the former number two citizen is seeking to be a “kill-joy” by criticising instead of praising President Bola Tinubu over the project’s implementation.
Special Adviser to the President on Information & Strategy, Bayo Onanuga disclosed this in a statement on Monday.
In a statement signed by his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe on Sunday, Atiku had said that Tinubu placed his personal business interest ahead of Nigerians with the highway project.
Atiku had pointed out that the 700-km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project was awarded to Hitech Construction Company Limited (Hitech), owned by Gilbert Chagoury, whom he described as “Tinubu’s business partner”.
He said Tinubu’s administration has inadvertently revealed its penchant for “dubious and shady deals” through the project.
However, the presidency said Atiku made “false allusions, in 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”.
“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,” the presidency said.
The presidency added that Atiku was “seeking to be a kill-joy” 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”.
“We have decided, however, to respond to Atiku’s misrepresentation of facts in matters of the coastal road if only to set the record straight so that unsuspecting Nigerians are not misled and misinformed.
“We owe it a sacred duty to ensure Atiku and his handlers do not continue to spread disinformation as they wallow in their politics of hatred.
“Contrary to the claims in Atiku’s endorsed press statement, at no time did the administrations of former Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan award contracts for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway to any company at any varied and revised amount. So the question of costs comparison does not arise.
“The contract that was awarded was that of Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail. The rail was designed as part of the standard gauge 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.
“The 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,” the presidency said.
According to the statement, President Tinubu should be praised for having the courage to embark on this transformative project and not vilified as Atiku unsuccessfully sought to do.