Former Cross River State Governor and 2027 presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has criticised the Federal Government’s Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, describing it as a misplaced priority that Nigeria cannot currently afford.
Speaking on Tuesday during Prime Time on Arise Television, Duke argued that the country’s limited resources should be directed toward projects with greater economic and social impact.
“I’ll bring this up. Take the Lagos-Calabar highway. I know the country cannot afford it,” he said.
According to the former governor, constructing a coastal highway from Lagos to Calabar poses significant engineering and financial challenges, particularly in Bayelsa State, where much of the terrain consists of swamps.
“You cannot build a road on the coast from Lagos to Calabar. You can’t even go through Bayelsa. Bayelsa is swamp. Even Yenagoa, the capital, is swamp. You’ll probably have to build about 100 or 200 bridges to go through those swamps,” he stated.
Duke maintained that the government should prioritise rehabilitating the existing Lagos-Calabar road network rather than embarking on a new highway project.
“There is already a road to Calabar. I’ve driven from Lagos to Calabar several times. If the road is poor, fix it,” he said.
He also expressed doubt that the proposed 750-kilometre coastal highway would be completed as planned, claiming it was unlikely to extend beyond Epe.
“I don’t think that road is going to go beyond Epe, and I think the road serves other purposes because I drove once on the road and all I saw on the right flank going towards Epe was land reclamation and all that,” Duke added.
The former governor further argued that funds allocated to the project could be more effectively invested in sectors that would have a more immediate impact on the lives and welfare of Nigerians.
