The presidential candidate of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP), Donald Duke, has described Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri as a “local champion” following their disagreement over the feasibility of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
Duke, a former governor of Cross River State, made the remark during an interview on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Thursday, insisting that the project was too expensive and impracticable given the terrain it would traverse.
Diri had criticised Duke’s earlier position that constructing the highway through Bayelsa would be difficult because of the state’s swampy terrain.
The governor, through his Chief Press Secretary, Daniel Alabrah, argued that Duke was unfamiliar with recent developments in infrastructure construction in the state.
“Clearly, he is not abreast of current developments in road construction and infrastructure development in our state,” Diri said.
Responding, Duke said the governor was approaching the issue from a state-level perspective rather than considering its broader 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 said.
He 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 also questioned the country’s ability to finance the project, arguing that Nigeria was already borrowing to fund infrastructure development.
“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.
The PRP candidate further questioned the decision to divert part of the coastal highway to the East-West Road, asking whether the existing route had been considered from the beginning of the project.
“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.
