The Federal government on Thursday clarified that the N15.6tn Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway project was not wasteful and corrupt.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo had described the project as wasteful and corrupt, slamming President Bola Tinubu’s administration for spending N21bn on a new official residence for Vice President Kashim Shettima, calling it a misplaced priority and conduit designed to embezzle public funds.
However, the FG through the Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi urged Nigerians to ignore comments by former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was wasteful and corrupt.
He made the assertion during his working visit to Ondo State for a 2nd interactive session on the Ondo State axis of the 71km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project. The meeting, which was held at the Government House in Akure, was a follow up to the first stakeholders meeting held on October 31, 2024 on the project.
Specifically, Umahi asked those criticising the project and other legacy projects of President Bola Tinubu not to pass through the roads when they are completed.
Insisting that the project was not wasteful and corrupt, Umahi stated that the project was transparent adding that people have the right to be jealous and angry.
Umahi said the alignment unveiling was the final stage of the route approval. He reminded Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to issue a revocation order on the route in line with the laws of the land. The Works Minister said the alignment reduced the route from 75km to 71km.
Engr. Umahi assured Ondo residents that President Tinubu was determined to complete all inherited projects and the four legacy projects of his administration, noting that all the senatorial zones were covered by the four legacy projects.
His words: “The man (Obasanjo) deserves our respect. I have not read the book but the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is not wasteful and corrupt. Anybody criticising the project is waking up to say how can one man (Tinubu) be attributed to these types of projects.”
Speaking on other federal government projects in Ondo State, Engr. Umahi said they were looking into the issue of compensation so that the contract would not be stalled. He said the dualisation of the Ilesha-Akure-Benin Highway was stalled by funding but assured that the contractor was bound to make the road motorable.
Earlier, the Governor of Ondo State, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to the successful completion of federal road projects in the State, emphasising the crucial role of infrastructure in driving economic growth and development.
Governor Aiyedatiwa thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the increase in federal presence in Ondo State through many infrastructural projects, including the ongoing Ore-Ondo-Akure dualisation project, the federal teaching hospital and new aviation school, among others.
He said: “We have not had it so good in recent times with federal projects in our State. Permit me to mention but a few: the Akure – Ore Dual Carriageway, the Akure – Ado Ekiti Dual Carriageway, the Lagos – Calabar Coastal Highway, and the Federal University of Technology Teaching Hospital, Akure”.
He further stressed the importance of completing these projects, noting their potential to boost economic activities in the State and the South-West region. He also appealed for additional federal support to actualise critical projects such as the Ondo Deep Sea Port and the mitigation of the Ayetoro sea incursion.
Governor Aiyedatiwa assured the Minister of Works that the Ondo State Government would provide an enabling environment for the successful execution of these projects.
“We are resolute in our commitment to ensuring that these projects are completed for the benefit of our people. In this regard, I pledge the Ondo State Government’s unflinching support and commitment towards actualising their completion,” he stated.
Fidelis David
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