Presidency faults Donald Duke’s claim that Lagos-Calabar highway is misplaced priority

The Presidency on Wednesday faulted the position of former Rivers State Governor and presidential candidate of the People’s Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, that the ongoing Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway was a misplaced priority.

Duke made the assertion on Tuesday while speaking on an Arise News programme.

The PRP presidential candidate questioned the economic and engineering feasibility of constructing a 750-kilometre highway along Nigeria’s coastline.

He further claimed that the project would not extend beyond Epe in Lagos State.

He said: “I’ll bring this up. Take the Lagos–Calabar highway. I know the country cannot afford it.

“You cannot build a road on the coast from Lagos to Calabar. I mean, you can’t even go through Bayelsa. Bayelsa is swamp. Even Yenagoa, the capital, is swamp. You’ll probably have to build about 100 or 200 bridges to go through those swamps.”

Duke, who maintained that the project was unnecessary, further argued that the country already had a road network linking Lagos and Calabar. He said the Bola Tinubu administration should have rehabilitated existing infrastructure rather than embarking on a new coastal route.

“There is already a road to Calabar. I’ve driven from Lagos to Calabar several times. If the road is poor, fix it.”

However, reacting in a post on his X handle, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, accused the former governor of arguing against reality, noting that the project had reached Ogun State and that work was ongoing on the Ondo and Akwa Ibom sections of the coastal highway.

The post on his X handle, @Thetope_Ajayi, read: “Former Governor Donald Duke, who wants to become President on the banner of an unviable political platform, has also joined the chorus of those saying the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway will not go beyond Lagos State.

“I think politics makes a lot of people say loads of what they don’t mean or believe in. They just talk for the sake of talking or because of bad politics. There is actually no sense in arguing against reality.

“While Duke was talking on TV that the Coastal Highway won’t go beyond Epe, the project has reached Ogun State, and work is ongoing on the Ondo and Akwa Ibom sections of the coastal road.”