Temitope Ajayi, President Bola Tinubu’s senior special assistant on media and publicity, dismisses criticism by former governor Donald Duke about the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. Duke, speaking on Arise News, questions the ₦15 trillion cost of the project and argues the spending could be directed to areas such as electricity and healthcare. He also says the highway will not extend beyond Epe in Lagos State, pointing to swampy terrain in Bayelsa and other coastal regions, and contends there is already an existing road to Calabar that should be repaired if poor.
Ajayi responds through his X account by saying Duke’s remarks are misleading because construction is already advanced beyond Lagos. He states the project has reached Ogun State and that work is ongoing on segments in Ondo and Akwa Ibom. Ajayi also accuses Duke of prioritizing politics over the visible progress on the initiative, noting that the project has been renamed the President Bola Tinubu Coastal Highway.
The sources describe the highway as one of Nigeria’s major infrastructure undertakings, intended to improve connectivity between Lagos and Calabar across multiple coastal states and support economic activity.
