Lagos-Calabar highway: Return to library for real facts, Presidency tells Atiku

The Presidency on Monday faulted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s comments on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road, describing them as a “misrepresentation of facts.”

“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…we urge him to return to the library for real facts,” the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, said in a statement he signed Monday.

Onanuga was responding to Atiku’s allegation that President Bola Tinubu puts personal business interests before Nigeria’s Infrastructure growth.

The former Vice President said the Tinubu administration is engaged in questionable dealings amidst developing the 700km Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.

Following approval by the Federal Executive Council, the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, announced the commencement of construction on the 700km road.

Umahi said the contractor commenced work following the formal handover of the initial phase of the project, comprising 47.47km of dual carriageway, to Hitech Construction Company Ltd.

Responding to Umahi’s statement, the former vice president, in a statement by his Media Coordinator, Paul Ibe, on Sunday, alleged that the project’s allocation to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company Limited (Hitech), devoid of any documented competitive bidding process or decision by the FEC.

According to Atiku, the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project reentered public discussion during the waning days of the Goodluck Jonathan administration in November 2014.

However, due to his electoral defeat, the project failed to take off under Jonathan’s tenure.

Subsequently, former President Muhammadu Buhari expressed his commitment to kickstart the endeavour.

“Umahi refused to reveal how much the project would cost. He only explained that it would run through nine states and have a railroad running through the middle.

“Most importantly, the works minister said the project would come at zero cost to Nigeria, which is currently facing an all-time high level of debt,” Atiku argued.

Atiku clarified that the project’s concept was “build, operate, and transfer,” indicating that Hitech would construct the road, operate it for a certain period, recoup its investment through tollgates, and subsequently return it to the Nigerian government.

He stated, “Because the project did not require public funds, it did not go through approval from the National Assembly, which holds the power of appropriation. Also, the project only went through the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission with no record of competitive bidding since Chagoury’s firm was to fund the project 100 per cent.

“However, to the shock of many Nigerians, Umahi returned to FEC with a memo in March 2024 seeking the approval of N1.06tn that would be paid to Chagoury’s firm for the first phase of the project, which is wholly in Lagos.

“This pilot phase was to begin from the edge of Chagoury’s Eko Atlantic City on Ahmadu Bello Way, Victoria Island, and terminate at the Lekki Deep Sea Port, Ibeju-Lekki, a distance of 47.47km till date, the Tinubu administration has refused to reveal how much the project will cost in total. Umahi, who even came on Channels Television recently, evaded questions as to the total cost of the project. But if 47.47km costs about N1.06tn, it means each kilometre is being built at N22.5bn or $18m. For a project that is going to be 700km, it means the total cost could be N15.7tn or $12.56bn, which is higher than previous estimates.”

But the Presidency spotted inconsistencies in Atiku’s comments, saying that the former Vice President had allowed himself to be led into a blind alley again by his poorly informed aides.

The statement is titled ‘Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway: Atiku Abubakar makes his hollow point again.’

“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 for 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 $11.17bn. 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 16 years it held sway,” Onanuga argued.

He added that the Presidency does not expect a former vice president of Nigeria to continue to “fan ill-will and engage in divisive politics in his twilight.”

He further argued that “Atiku queried the decision to start the coastal road from Lagos and not Calabar, oblivious of the huge impact such will make on export-import flow around the industrial zones.

“We are at a loss as to what the former VP hopes to achieve with his assertion. Is it not a received wisdom that a thousand-mile journey begins with a step?

“Whether the project begins from Lagos or Calabar, Warri or Sapele, what should gladden the heart of any patriotic Nigerian is that this important project that has been in the pipeline for several decades has finally taken off.”

The presidential aide asserted that Tinubu will continue to drive and propel national progress through infrastructural development across the country.

Therefore, he urged the former Vice President to “act his status as a presumed statesman and desist from engaging in fruitless exercise that does not add any value to nation-building.

“As to the other poorly researched issue raised by Atiku and his team on the Lekki Concession Company, we urge them to return to the ibrary for real facts rather than rushing to cast aspersions on President Tinubu and his government,” the statement concluded.