You Don’t Need To Wait Till Friday To Disclose Cost Of Lagos-Calabar Project, Atiku Camp Replies Tinubu Government

News24Hours reported on Monday that Atiku, who is the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election had questioned the President Bola Tinubu-led administration for awarding the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company Limited “without any evidence of competitive bidding or a decision by the Federal Executive Council (FEC)”.

Phrank Shaibu, Special Assistant to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has replied the Minister of Works, David Umahi, saying he does not need to wait till Friday to disclose the full cost of the Lagos-Calabar highway project.

News24Hours reported on Monday that Atiku, who is the Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the last election had questioned the President Bola Tinubu-led administration for awarding the 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company Limited “without any evidence of competitive bidding or a decision by the Federal Executive Council (FEC)”.

Atiku claimed that the award was cloaked in mystery because Umahi declined to reveal the contractual amount involved in the project.

He also asked why the Tinubu administration released N1.06 trillion for the pilot phase of the project, which begins at Eko Atlantic and is expected to terminate at the Lekki Deep Sea Port, a distance of 47.47km.

Reacting, Umahi, in a statement issued through his Special Adviser on Media, Orji Uchenna, promised that the total cost and breakdown of the ongoing Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project will be made available to the public on Friday in Lagos.

The former governor of Ebonyi State had berated the former Vice President, noting that he “doesn’t understand figures”.

However, Atiku’s aide weighing in on Wednesday, tackled the minister questioning why Umahi should wait for that long to disclose the price tag for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project.

Shaibu who stated this in post shared on X (formerly Twitter), wrote: “Why on earth does David Umahi need these number of days to cough up the price tag for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Project?

“Oh, right, just to make sure those figures are nicely seasoned with ‘shaki’, ‘ponmo’ and other ‘orishirishi’ before serving them up. I mean, seriously, a minute should suffice to fish out the cost from that so-called ‘PPP’ pact with Hitech. But hey, who’s counting, right? Certainly not Umahi! …@aonanuga1956 , I can explain it to you, but I can’t understand it for you.”