Politics
Lagos-Calabar highway: ‘Why is project starting from Chagoury’s Eko Atlantic? Atiku hits Tinubu again
Atiku Abubakar, former vice president and the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 election, has again, challenged President Bola Tinubu to answer some critical questions regarding the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project.
Atiku, who was responding to a statement by Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman in response to his earlier remarks on the project, stated that the Tinubu administration could not continue to dodge the question on the cost implication of a project which would be funded by tax payers money at a time Nigeria was still facing dire economic challenges.
The former vice president said this in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communications, Phrank Shaibu, in Abuja on Tuesday
He explained that his principal had through Paul Ibe, his Media Adviser, questioned the Tinubu administration’s decision to award the contract to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech without competitive bidding.
He had also wondered why the Tinubu administration released N1.06tn for the pilot phase or 6% of the project, which begins at Eko Atlantic and was expected to terminate at the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
“The Tinubu administration cannot continue to respond to public inquiry with insults. They must come clean on this project because Nigerians deserve to know the truth. I, therefore, present six posers to the administration.
“How much is the total cost of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway? Why is the project being funded by the Nigerian government despite being a PPP?, Why is the project taking off from Chagoury’s Eko Atlantic?, Why is N1.06 trillion being spent on the pilot phase, which is just 47km?
“Why did the N1.06trillion not get the approval of the National Assembly? Why wasn’t there a competitive bidding for the project?
”Finally, how did the Tinubu administration get the design as well as the right of way in just seven months, since it claims the past administration of Goodluck Jonathan and Muhammadu Buhari never touched the project?
“Atiku asked the Tinubu administration to, in the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act, respond to the questions line by line, instead of taking the mundane and jejune route of ‘insulting their way out of every inquiry.”
