Local champion – Donald Duke slams Governor Diri over Lagos-Calabar coastal highway

Peoples Redemption Party presidential candidate Donald Duke has described Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri as a “local champion” in a disagreement over the feasibility of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.

Speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Thursday, October 15, the previous Cross River governor maintained that the venture’s price and the terrain alongside its route made it impracticable.

Diri had criticised Duke’s earlier assertion that developing the freeway via Bayelsa could be tough due to its swampy terrain. Through his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, Diri pointed to roads and bridges his administration had constructed throughout swamps and mangroves.

“Clearly, he is not abreast of current developments in road construction and infrastructure development in our state,” Diri mentioned.

Responding, Duke argued that the governor was contemplating the venture from a state perspective quite than assessing 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 mentioned. He maintained that his South-South background didn’t forestall him from analyzing nationwide spending priorities.

“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 mentioned. Duke questioned Nigeria’s monetary capability to finish the freeway, citing the federal government’s reliance on borrowing for infrastructure.

“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 mentioned.

He additionally questioned plans to divert a part of the coastal freeway onto the East-West Road, asking whether or not the prevailing route had been thought of when the venture was first designed.