Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, has reacted to Minister of Works, Dave Umahi’s claim that the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will certainly cost N15.6 trillion, calling it wasteful and a highway to fraud.
According to him, the Minister altered with the initial plan of the project after Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech had been awarded the contract.
Umahi in a press conference on Thursday, stressed that the road project would cost N15.6 trillion ($13 billion at an exchange rate of N1,200/$1), while the rail which will pass through the road will be costed differently.
The minister also said that the road project would not be PPP, but the government would be providing 15% – 30% counterpart financing.
In response to Umahi’s claims, Atiku said the fixed cost was the equivalent of the combination of the total budget of all 36 states of the federation.
“Umahi had announced that the project would be fully funded by Hitech, and based on this, there was no competitive bidding. He (Umahi) then turned around to say that Hitech could only raise just 6% of the money for the pilot phase. This smacks of deceit.
“The total budget of all 36 states of the federation for 2024 stands at about N14 trillion. If you add that of the FCT, the entire budget of all sub-nationals is N15.91 trillion. This is scandalous. Worse still, they have already awarded the contract but are still not sure of the level of the counterpart funding component of the federal government!
“Umahi had said in September 2023 that Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech had the money to construct the highway and that it would be PPP. Hitech was to build, operate and transfer it back to the Nigerian government after years of tolling.
“It was reported by every media organisation, including those owned by Tinubu. It was on the basis of this proposal that Hitech was picked. Why did Umahi then turn around to claim that it was not to be a PPP but that the government would pay 15% – 30%?”.he said.
He added that it was strange that the N15.91 trillion announced by Umahi did not include the cost of the railway component, insisting that in the 2024 budget, the project was captured as the Lagos-Port Harcourt coastal highway which cost N500m.
“Although the National Assembly approved N500 million for the project this year, the Tinubu administration has released N1.06 trillion. That is more than 200 times what is in the Appropriation Act. This is what happens when the National Assembly fails in its duties.
“If N15.6 trillion is for the road component alone, then the total cost could be far higher when the railway is included. We want to know the cost of the railway”, he added.
The former Vice President of Nigeria, urged the Minister to desist from lies and deceit, highlighting the observation as the probable norm when it comes to projects in Lagos.
He charged members of the National Assembly to be active in exercising their duties.
“Until I exposed the dubious nature of this project, no member of the National Assembly thought it wise to investigate. The total cost was never made known until now. The fact that there was no bidding was never made known until I blew the whistle.” He said.
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