Lagos-Calabar coastal highway has reached Ogun, Tinubu’s aide counters Donald Duke’s claim

Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Publicity, Temitope Ajayi, has dismissed former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke’s claim that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will not extend beyond Lagos State, saying ongoing construction has already disproved the assertion.

Ajayi, in a post on his X account on Wednesday, said the project had already reached Ogun State, while construction was also ongoing on sections of the highway in Ondo and Akwa Ibom states.

He said Duke’s comments, made during an interview on ARISE Television, were politically motivated and did not reflect the reality on the ground.

“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.

The presidential aide added that “there is actually no sense in arguing against reality,” arguing that politics often makes people “say loads of what they don’t mean or believe in.”

During the ARISE Television interview, Duke described the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as a misplaced national priority, arguing that Nigeria could not afford the project in its current economic circumstances. He also claimed the highway would not go beyond the Epe area of Lagos despite the Federal Government’s plans.

The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is a proposed 700km-plus coastal road being developed by the Federal Government to connect Lagos with Cross River through several coastal states, including Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River. The project, being executed in phases by the Federal Ministry of Works, is intended to improve regional connectivity, ease the movement of people and goods, and stimulate economic activities, tourism and investment along Nigeria’s coastline.