The Nigerian Presidency has lashed out at former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar accusing him of spreading misinformation in a “futile attempt to denigrate and find faults” in the newly inaugurated Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, a signature infrastructure initiative of the Bola Tinubu administration.
The statement, issued by the special adviser to the president on information and strategy, Bayo Onanuga, dismissed Atiku’s claims made through his media assistant, Paul Ibe, stating that the former VP’s allegations only exposed his inadequacies and those of his team in getting the basic facts on an issue on which he badly sought to nail the government.
Onanuga asserted that contrary to Atiku’s assertions, the previous administrations of Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan did not award any contracts for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
He clarified that the awarded contract was for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Rail project, which was later abandoned.
Onanuga accused Atiku of engaging in “red-herring” and “ill-thought-out allegations.”
He 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.
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“In a press statement signed on his behalf by media assistant, Paul Ibe, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in the last election 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.”
According to him, the presidency had decided to respond to Atiku’s misrepresentation of facts in matters of the coastal road to ensure that Nigerians are not misled and misinformed.
“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 cost 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.”
He noted that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail project had always been in the plans, and that it showed 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,” he said.
The presidency also defended President Tinubu’s decision to commence the coastal highway project from Lagos, arguing that it would have a significant impact on export-import flow around the industrial zones, contrary to Atiku’s questioning of the starting point.
Onanuga urged Atiku to act his status as a presumed statesman and desist from engaging in fruitless exercises that do not add any value to nation-building.