Why Politicians Are Saying Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway Is Land Grabbing – Umahi

Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has dismissed the insinuation that the federal government was involved in land grabbing to construct the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.

Naija News reports that Umahi made the clarification in response to claims by Cross River State former governor, Donald Duke, who labelled the project as land grabbing.

However, in an interview with Arise Television on Friday, the minister said politics is why many people are calling the project land grabbing.

According to Umahi, many people are beginning to realise the benefit of the project and appreciating President Bola Tinubu

He said, “He called a sitting governor a local champion, and that is very terrible and unfortunate.

“When we talk about bogus projects we should be talking about Tinapa, is it functioning? It’s not functioning, but you borrowed money from the state, which one is land grabbing?

“It’s very terrible and if I’m not mistaking before he jumped to another party, himself and a former governor of Delta State had gone to commend the president about that project, and they were all part of the Coastal Highway project when they were all governors.

“And so, because of politics you are now saying it’s land grabbing, who is grabbing the land? Before now I was the only person defending the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway but I’m very happy now that I now have companions, people that are interested, people that appreciated the president.

“And let me say to the people of the Niger Delta that the president has to return because, God forbids that he fails to return, they will continue to ignore Niger Delta and the Lagos-Calabar road will be gone. You have seen the kind of people that don’t want the hen that lays the golden egg to benefit.”