Minister of Works, Dave Umahi has berated former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar’s poor understanding of figures.
He said Atiku’s ignorance made him goof in his analysis of the cost of the ongoing 700-kilometre Lagos-Calabar coastal road.
According to Umahi, apart from the economic benefits of the project, it will connect the entire country.
The minister described the issues raised by Atiku as “a gross misrepresentation of facts and figures” and a ploy to mislead Nigerians.
Atiku had in a statement on Sunday, questioned the award of the contract to Hitech Construction Company without competitive bidding.
He added that apart from the total cost of the project being unknown, N1.06 trillion had been released for the pilot phase which starts from Eko Atlantic on Victoria Island to the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
But Umahi stated that the President Tinubu administration has, despite the cost of construction materials, remained unmatched in prudence, cost-effectiveness, and speedy, and quality delivery of road projects.
He spoke while inspecting the rehabilitation of the Enugu – Port Harcourt dual carriageway section 4 (Aba – Port Harcourt).
He also spoke on the importance of the coastal highway, saying: “It is tying the entire country together. It’s not tying just Southsouth and Southwest.
“It is tying the North and South together. We are starting a project from Badagry to Sokoto, and we have a spur on this coastal route to that route and the African Trans Sahara Road that is passing from Enugu to Abakaliki to Ogoja to Cameroon which has a spur to the North.”
