Tinubu’s Aide Knocks Donald Duke Over Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Criticism

Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has faulted former Cross River State governor, Donald Duke, over his criticism of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, insisting that construction has already extended beyond Lagos State.

Ajayi’s reaction followed comments made by Duke during an interview on Arise News on Tuesday, in which the former governor questioned the viability of the multi-trillion-naira project and argued that the funds would be better utilised in critical sectors such as electricity and healthcare.

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, valued at about N15 trillion and officially named the President Bola Tinubu Coastal Highway, is one of the federal government’s flagship infrastructure projects.

Speaking during the interview, Duke argued that Nigeria could not afford the project, maintaining that an existing road already connects Lagos to Calabar.

“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.

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

“I don’t think that road is going to go beyond Epe, and I think the road serves other purposes because I drove once on the road and all I saw on the right flank going towards Epe was land reclamation and all that,” Duke stated.

The former Cross River governor also criticised the federal government’s borrowing strategy, calling for a review of national priorities and governance structure.

“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. Because our revenue collection system is poor, we do the basic thing: we tax you on profit.

“You have got to prioritise and focus on what is required. 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.

“The governance structure must change. Look at the high cost of governance—why do you need a bicameral legislature? You don’t need it. You can do with only a Senate; you don’t need a House of Representatives. Restructuring; it’s imperative. We need to restructure to come to terms with our circumstance,” he added.

Responding in a post on his verified X handle on Wednesday, Ajayi dismissed Duke’s claims, saying the project had already progressed beyond Epe and into neighbouring states.

“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 going on on the Ondo and Akwa-Ibom states’ sections of the coastal road,” Ajayi wrote.