Presidency fires back at Atiku over Lagos-Calabar coastal road award criticism 

The presidency has accused former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar of engaging in an idle talk for criticising the recent award of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project to Hitech Construction Company Limited (Hitech) owned by Gilbert Chagoury.

In a statement issued on Monday, Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy, said Atiku did not get his facts right.

Atiku in a statement issued by Paul Ibe, his media adviser, had alleged that the 700-kilometre highway project was awarded to President Bola Tinubu’s business partner without any competitive bidding.

He claimed that the road construction was shrouded in secrecy and could cost N15.7 trillion.

Presidency’s statement

But reacting on behalf of President Tinubu in the statement on Monday, Bayo Onanuga said, “In his desperation to always want to hug the headlines as a self-appointed opposition leader, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has allowed himself to be led into a blind alley again by his poorly informed aides,” the statement read.

Onanuga said Abubakar made “false allusions” about the project in his “futile attempt to denigrate and find faults in the audacious and transformational” road construction initiative.

“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 the agricultural and tourism economy on a grand scale,” the presidential spokesperson said.

“Seeking to be a killjoy, 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.

“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.”

Onanuga said the administrations of Jonathan and Buhari never awarded the project to any company at any varied and revised amount as claimed by Abubakar.

He said Atiku was mixing up the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project with the Lagos-Calabar coastal rail.

“So the question of costs comparison does not arise,” the presidential spokesperson said.

He also said, “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 $11.17 billion. 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 to the failure of the previous PDP-led government that it could not get it off the ground in the 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.”

Onanuga said Tinubu “should be praised for having the courage to embark on this transformative project and not vilified as Atiku Abubakar unsuccessfully sought to do”.

“We know there is nothing so sacred for Atiku Abubakar in the pursuit of his undying ambition to be President of Nigeria even in his advanced age,” he said.

“We, however, don’t expect a former Vice President of Nigeria to continue to fan ill-will and engage in divisive politics in his twilight.”

“President Tinubu as a leader and nationalist will continue to drive and propel national progress through infrastructural development across the country.”

The presidency urged Abubakar to “act his status as a presumed statesman and desist from engaging in fruitless exercise that does not add any value to nation-building”.