Stakeholders from the southern regions have criticized former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, for his remarks regarding the development of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Railway and the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
Allegedly, Atiku had raised concerns regarding the government’s rationale behind commencing the coastal projects.
Asuquo Akpan, leading the Crystal United Club in Uyo, and former presidential aide, Okoi Obono-Obla, issued a stern warning to the Waziri, urging him to reconsider his statement.
Accusing him of seeking to deprive them of important projects, they referenced his alleged involvement in the sale of the Aluminium Smelter Company of Nigeria (Alscon) plant in Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom.
According to Obono-Obla, Atiku stands accused of employing political machinations to thwart the progress of the two thoughtfully designed projects, which carry the potential to uplift both the Southern region and Nigeria overall.
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In his statement, Obono-Obla said, ‘It is disconcerting that Atiku Abubakar, the former VP would be intentional and deliberately confusing the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Railway and the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway under the guise of oppositional politics and or promoting the virtues of transparency and accountability.
‘Atiku’s statement is full of sound and fury, signifying nothing but a thinly veiled opposition to the two projects, perhaps because of sectional and regional interests masked and disguised in highly wired politics which has always been the bane of Nigeria.’
He claimed that the former VP is the very individual who, back in 2004, hampered the economic advancement of the South-South geopolitical region during his tenure as the Chairman of the National Privatization Council of Nigeria. Allegedly, he orchestrated the sale of the Alscon plant in Ikot Abasi to purportedly unworthy Russian investors, identified as UC Rusal, for $250 million.