The Presidency said on Monday that the demolition of buildings for the Lagos-Calabar highway will not stop foreign investments into Nigeria.
It also mentioned that Seyi Tinubu's position in CDK Industries Ltd does not conflict with the project.
The Presidency responded to Atiku's comments about the Coastal Highway project being hastened due to business ties, stating that it is not solely because of President Bola Tinubu and Gilbert Chagoury's connections.
A statement by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, defended President Tinubu against Atiku's accusation of conflict of interest in the award of the project to Hitech Construction Company.
The statement is titled, ‘Atiku Abubakar’s penchant for distorting facts.’
Atiku Abubakar argued that the lack of proper notification regarding the demolition of tourist and recreational amenities, as well as properties within the Oniru corridor, is affecting Nigeria’s ability to attract foreign direct investments.
The ongoing development of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway has faced both criticism and approval as the Lagos state government demolishes facilities to speed up construction.
The Minister of Works Dave Umahi has consistently supported the demolitions, stating that they are necessary to enforce the government’s right-of-way.
The Presidency disagreed with Atiku and emphasized that various sectors of Nigeria’s economy are attracting new Foreign Direct Investments.
It argued that the Tinubu administration has brought in over $20bn into the economy within its first year.
Onanuga cited President Tinubu’s trip to India for the G20 summit last September, mentioning that “a substantial part” of the $14bn in new investments that investors promised “is already in the country.”
“Foreign investment in Nigeria’s stock market has increased from N18.12bn in Q1 2023 to N93.37bn in Q1 2024, an increase of 415 per cent,
The last time such a level of investment was seen was in the first quarter of 2019 when N97.6 billion was invested.
The market has seen remarkable growth and created more wealth for investors since Tinubu assumed office, according to the statement.
The ex-Vice President also mentioned that President Bola Tinubu’s son and his representatives being on the board of companies owned by Gilbert Chagoury creates a conflict of interest.
Saying it is not surprising that the Chagoury Group has become the main recipient of Tinubu’s generosity, Atiku said, “Thanks to quality reporting by Africa Intelligence, our suspicions have been confirmed that Chagoury and Tinubu are indeed business partners and it has been formalized with Seyi on the board of one of Chagoury’s firms.”
He argued that instead of making it easier to do business, the Tinubu administration allegedly showed the global community that his business endeavors and those of his family would consistently come before national interests.
In response, the Presidency stated that Atiku, who formed Intels Nigeria with an Italian businessman while serving in the Nigeria Customs Service, is in a “clear breach of existing public service regulations” and accuses someone else of conflict of interest.
It said that as Vice President of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, Atiku kept his business connections with Intels, which won major port concession deals.
“Was this not an abuse of office, a blatant violation of his oath, that a company where he was a co-owner won major government contracts and concessions when he was vice president?” it asked.
It also accused the former VP of approving the “sale of over 145 State-owned enterprises to his known friends and associates” as Chairman of the National Council on Privatization.
The Presidency, therefore, stated that Seyi Tinubu, a 38-year-old adult who joined the Board of CDK in 2018, has a right to do business and pursue his business interests in Nigeria and anywhere in the world within the limits of the law.
“The fact that his father is now the President of Nigeria does not disqualify Seyi from pursuing legitimate business interests,” it asserted, stating that “the Chagourys are minority shareholders in the company, and only one member of the clan is on its five-man board.”
It added, “We wonder how Seyi’s membership of the board of CDK conflicts with Hitech Construction Company’s work on the Lagos-Calabar Coastal superhighway.
“How can an elder statesman be waging a campaign of calumny against the economic fortunes and prosperity of a country he wishes to govern or trying to scuttle a project that will bring prosperity to nine coastal states and the nation in general?”
The Presidency noted that every true and patriotic Nigerian, regardless of political differences, should work to promote the unity and economic well-being of the country and not delegitimize genuine efforts of the Federal Government to encourage local and foreign investments into the economy.
It said infrastructural projects such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway are used to galvanize the economy as US President Joe Biden used his $2tn bi-partisan infrastructure deal to revamp decaying American infrastructure.
Onanuga also described as “stale news,” reports that the IMF is reclassifying Nigeria’s economy as the fourth largest in Africa.
He said the reclassification occurred due to the decrease in the value of the Naira, and he promised that Nigeria will recover and become Africa's largest market and biggest economy once again.
