The Presidency has rejected former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke’s claim that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will end at Epe in Lagos State, insisting that construction has already progressed beyond Lagos.
The response followed remarks by Duke, the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) presidential candidate, who questioned the scope and relevance of the coastal highway project.
Reacting to the comments, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Tope Ajayi, accused the former governor of giving Nigerians an inaccurate picture of the project.
According to Ajayi, construction has already extended into Ogun State, contrary to Duke’s claim.
He also disclosed that work is progressing simultaneously on sections of the highway in Ondo and Akwa Ibom states.
“While Duke was saying on TV that the Coastal Highway won’t go beyond Epe, the project has reached Ogun State, and work is ongoing on the Ondo and Akwa Ibom State sections of the coastal road,” Ajayi wrote on his verified X account.
Ajayi suggested that political interests may be behind the criticism, maintaining that the reality on the ground tells a different story.
Donald Duke, who served as governor of Cross River State from 1999 to 2007, was the Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate in the 2019 election before emerging as the PRP’s presidential candidate for the 2027 race.
The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is one of the Federal Government’s flagship infrastructure projects. It is designed to connect coastal communities from Lagos through several southern states to Cross River, with the aim of boosting transportation, trade and economic development along Nigeria’s coastline.
