Atiku, in a statement on Tuesday, through his Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, queried the decision of the Tinubu-led administration to award the contract to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech without a competitive bidding.
Atiku, the 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), also dared President Tinubu to disclose the full cost of the project.
The former Vice President said that the Tinubu-led administration could not continue to keep silent on how much of public funds would be spent on the project at a time Nigeria was still facing dire economic challenges.
He also wondered why the Tinubu administration released N1.06 trillion for the pilot phase or six per cent of the project, which begins at Eko Atlantic and is expected to terminate at the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
Responding in a statement, the Minister of Works, David Umahi, said despite the high cost of materials in the construction industry, the President Tinubu- led administration has maintained prudence, cost effectiveness, speed and quality in the delivery of road projects.
Umahi in a statement by his spokesman, Uchenna Orji, described Atiku’s analysis as a “gross misrepresentation of facts, and figures and a ploy to mislead Nigerians by darkening counsel without knowledge.
“Atiku doesn’t understand figures. I am going to run figures for him to understand, and he will understand how prudent the administration of President Tinubu has been.
”He will understand how prudency is taking the centre stage in this administration.
“The President has once queried me on the cost of on-going projects nationwide. I had to analyse every basic rate of construction materials to arrive at our unit rates. I showed it to Mr. President. He still thinks I should bring down the cost of projects.
“At the same time, the contractors are crying that I am oppressing them so much by reviewing the costs of their projects downwards.
”They lamented that what they were getting before, they are no longer getting it now. They cried out. But when I run the figures, Nigerians will see what this present administration is doing.
”So, I’m not here to run the figures now. I will do that in a press conference on my visit to Lagos from April 10, 2024 to April 12, 2024.”
On the economic importance of the coastal highway, Umahi stated, “I will tell you the economic benefits of the project and how the coastal road is tying the entire country together.
”It’s not tying just South-South and South- West. It is also tying the North and South together.
”We are starting a project from Badagry to Sokoto, and we have a spur on this coastal route to that route and the African Trans Sahara Road that is passing from Enugu to Abakaliki to Ogoja to Cameroon which has a spur to the North.”
Also, Presidential spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, in a statement, said, ”Atiku 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”
“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 costs 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 guage national rail network.
”The contract was awarded on August 4, 2021 by the Federal Executive Council presided over by former Vice President, Prof. 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 of 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.
“President Tinubu should be praised for having the courage to embark on this transformative project and not vilified as Atiku Abubakar unsuccessfully sought to do.”
