According to the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI), former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s remarks on the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project were intended to cast doubt on its credibility.
Chairman Niyi Akinsiju, in a statement released on Monday, asserted that there is ample evidence supporting the government’s selection of HiTECH for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.
IMPI highlighted HiTECH’s successful management of the Bar Beach Shoreline protection project and its track record of building coastal highways with reinforced concrete outside of Nigeria.
The policy group emphasized that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road has been designed as a 10-lane highway with a total pavement width of 59.2 meters within a 100-meter corridor.
It was noted that within this corridor, there will be five lanes on each side along with a 25-meter train track.
IMPI commended the Federal Government for reducing the project cost to N4.329bn per kilometer from the initial N8.52bn per kilometer estimated for a four-lane Lagos-Calabar highway by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC.
The statement added, “Upon our examination, all the assertions made by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, which ignited the controversy, were found to be baseless and aimed at undermining the project.”
“It should be noted that there is no universal standard pricing model for road construction costs worldwide.
“Cost estimates for road construction are influenced by various factors such as location, terrain, construction type, number of lanes, lane width, road surface durability, and the presence of bridges, among others.
“To facilitate discussion, we conducted a review of cost estimates from other countries to provide context for the claims of fraud or misconduct that Waziri Abubakar is insinuating.”