The Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, Donald Duke, has described Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri as a “local champion” amid a disagreement over the feasibility of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
Duke made the remark during an appearance on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Thursday, October 15, where he maintained that the project’s cost and the terrain along its route made it impracticable.
The former Cross River State governor was responding to Diri’s criticism of his earlier comments that constructing the highway through Bayelsa would be difficult because of the state’s swampy terrain.
Through his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, Diri had argued that Duke was not abreast of current developments in road construction and infrastructure in the state, pointing to roads and bridges his administration had constructed across swamps and mangrove areas.
“Clearly, he is not abreast of current developments in road construction and infrastructure development in our state,” Diri said.
Responding, Duke argued that the governor was assessing the project from a state perspective rather than considering its wider implications for Nigeria.
“And the governor of Bayelsa, if he did say so, I don’t know the fellow, but if he did say so, I think he’s just being a local champion,” Duke said.
He maintained that his South-South background did not prevent him from assessing national spending priorities objectively.
“I’m from the South-South. I’m a Nigerian. South-South just happens to be where I originated from. But I’m looking at the totality of Nigeria,” he said.
Duke questioned the country’s financial capacity to complete the coastal highway, arguing that the Federal Government was already relying on borrowing to fund infrastructure projects.
“It’s just not feasible. We don’t have the kind of money to do it. We’re literally borrowing to even stretch Epe stretch. We’re borrowing. We can’t do it,” he said.
The PRP candidate also questioned plans to divert part of the coastal highway onto the East-West Road, asking whether the existing route had been adequately considered when the project was originally designed.
The disagreement has brought renewed attention to questions about the cost, financing and engineering challenges associated with the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, as well as the priorities guiding the Federal Government’s infrastructure spending.
