Tinubu Aide Rebuts Duke's Criticism of Lagos-Calabar Highway Project

Presidential aide Temitope Ajayi has publicly challenged comments made by Donald Duke, a presidential candidate for the Peoples Redemption Party, concerning the Lagos-Calabar Highway project. Duke had voiced strong reservations about the N15 trillion highway, arguing that Nigeria could not afford it and that the allocated funds would be more impactful if directed towards essential services like electricity or healthcare.

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The World Bank is now cautioning us. They probably won’t give us anything more, so we are going through different routes to get funding from other sources.

Duke, a former governor of Cross River State, specifically questioned the project's viability, suggesting it would not extend beyond Epe in Lagos State. He pointed to an existing road to Calabar and proposed fixing it instead. Furthermore, Duke criticized Nigeria's borrowing practices and called for a significant overhaul of the governance structure, including reducing the legislature.

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You can’t 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.

Responding via his X account, Ajayi asserted that the highway project is progressing beyond Epe and has already reached Ogun State. He aimed to correct Duke's assessment of the project's scope and current status, highlighting ongoing development.

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The money being spent on that would be better spent providing electricity or upgrading the healthcare system. So, prioritise, focus your priorities, recalibrate your revenue system, and look at the horrendous cost of gas.