As part of a “futile attempt to denigrate and find faults,” the Presidency has accused former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of disseminating false information about the recently launched Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, a flagship infrastructural project of the Bola Tinubu administration.

The former vice president’s claims were refuted in a statement released by Bayo Onanuga, special adviser to the president on information and strategy. According to Ibe, the former vice president’s claims only highlighted his and his team’s shortcomings in obtaining basic facts on a matter on which he ardently sought to expose the government.

In contrast to Atiku’s claims, Onanuga claimed that no contracts for building the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway were given out by the previous administrations of Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan.

He made it clear that the project for the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Rail, which was eventually shelved, was the reason for the contract award.

Atiku was charged by Onanuga with “red-herring” and “ill-thought-out allegations.”

“Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has allowed himself to be led into a blind alley again by his ill-informed aides,” the statement read, reflecting his need to constantly want to grab the headlines as a self-appointed opposition leader.

“In a press statement signed on his behalf by media assistant, Paul Ibe, the Peoples Democratic Party’s presidential candidate in the last election made false allusions in his futile attempt to denigrate and find faults in the audacious and transformational Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway project, which was recently inaugurated as one of the signature projects of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.

“To Atiku’s chagrin and utter disappointment, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway has been rightly praised for the huge economic impact it will create and how it will be a game-changer in improving the quality of life of Nigerians, especially the economy of the nine coastal states it will pass through. Importantly, the road will boost agricultural and tourism economy on a grand scale.”

He claimed that in order to prevent Nigerians from being mislead and uninformed, the administration had made the decision to respond to Atiku’s fabrication of the truth over the coastal route.

“Contrary to the claims in Atiku’s endorsed press statement, at no time did the administrations of former Presidents Muhammadu Buhari and Goodluck Jonathan award contracts for the construction of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway to any company at any varied and revised amount. So the question of cost comparison does not arise.

“The contract that was awarded was that of Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail. The rail was designed as part of the standard gauge national rail network. The contract was awarded on August 4, 2021 by the Federal Executive Council presided over by former Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, at the cost of $11.17billion. The contract was to be completed in six years. The project didn’t take off.”

He pointed out that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Rail project had always been planned and that the fact that the previous PDP-led administration was unable to get it off the ground in the sixteen years that it was in power was evidence of its failure.

“The Lagos-Calabar Coastal highway and Lagos-Calabar Coastal rail are two distinct projects. It is unfortunate that the former Vice President is confused about the two projects,” he said.

In response to Atiku’s criticism of the project’s beginning position, the presidency additionally backed President Tinubu’s decision to launch the coastal highway project from Lagos, claiming that it would significantly affect export-import traffic surrounding the industrial zones.

Onanuga asked Atiku to exercise his presumptive role as a statesman and stop wasting time on activities that don’t advance the cause of nation-building.