Former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke has criticised Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri over their disagreement on the feasibility of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, describing him as a “local champion” while questioning the project’s affordability.
Duke, the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, made the remarks during an interview on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Thursday, insisting that Nigeria lacked the financial capacity to execute the project.
The disagreement followed Diri’s criticism of Duke’s earlier claim that constructing the highway through Bayelsa State would be impracticable because of its swampy terrain.
Responding to Duke’s position, Diri, through his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, said the former governor was not familiar with the state’s progress in road construction and infrastructure development.
“Clearly, he is not abreast of current developments in road construction and infrastructure development in our state,” Diri said.
However, Duke argued that the Bayelsa governor was viewing the project from a state-level perspective rather than considering its financial implications for the country as a whole.
“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 said.
The former governor maintained that his South-South origin did not prevent him from assessing the project from a national perspective.
“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 said.
Duke argued that the country could not afford the coastal highway, noting that the Federal Government was already borrowing to finance infrastructure projects.
“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 said.
He also questioned the Federal Government’s reported decision to divert part of the coastal highway towards the East-West Road, asking whether the existing highway had been considered when the project was conceived.
“Now, they have said that they’re going to divert the road onto the East-West Highway. Weren’t they aware of the East-West Highway from get-go?” Duke asked.
The disagreement has brought renewed attention to the proposed highway’s construction challenges, cost and economic justification, particularly its route through the Niger Delta.
While Duke maintains that the project is financially impractical, Diri has defended its feasibility, citing Bayelsa’s experience in constructing roads and bridges across swampy and mangrove terrain.
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