Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the N15.6tn Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway project as wasteful and corrupt.
He equally slammed the President Bola Tinubu administration for spending N21bn on a new official residence for Vice President Kashim Shettima, calling it a misplaced priority and conduit designed to embezzle public funds.
The ex-leader disclosed this in chapter six of his new book, ‘Nigeria: Past and Future’ where he painted the portrait and characters of chief executives at both the federal and state levels.
The book was one of the two new books unveiled to mark Obasanjo’s 88th birthday last week.
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, had revealed that the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway will cost N4.93bn per kilometre, stating that the contract was awarded on a counterpart-funding basis and not a Public-Private Partnership.
About N1.06tn has been released for the pilot phase, or six per cent of the project, which begins at Eko Atlantic and is expected to terminate at the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
Many prominent Nigerians, including the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the 2023 general elections, Atiku Abubakar, have questioned the Federal Government’s decision to award the contract to Gilbert Chagoury’s Hitech Construction Company without competitive bidding.
