Bayelsa State Governor Douye Diri has faulted former Cross River State Governor Donald Duke’s claim that the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is unbuildable because of the swampy terrain in the Niger Delta, citing roads and bridges constructed in similar conditions in his state.
Mr Diri, in a statement issued by his spokesperson, Daniel Alabrah, and shared on Wednesday by the Bayelsa State Government’s new media platform, said Mr Duke’s criticism did not reflect developments in infrastructure construction in the region.
Mr Duke who is the presidential candidate for the Peoples Redemption Party in the 2027 general elections, described the proposed highway as unbuildable in an interview on Arise News, arguing that the swampy terrain in Bayelsa would make its construction difficult and require numerous bridges. “The Lagos-Calabar Road is unbuildable. You cannot even go through Bayelsa. Bayelsa is swamp. Even Yenagoa, the capital, is swamp.
You will probably have to build about 100 or 200 bridges to go through those swamps,” the former governor said. But Mr Diri argued that his administration had demonstrated the feasibility of constructing roads and bridges across the state’s difficult terrain. “I have seen the trending video clip of the former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke, on an Arise Television programme.
“To say the least, I feel disappointed that former Governor Duke, who is from our region, made such a comment. Clearly, he is not abreast of current developments in road construction and infrastructure development in our state,” Mr Diri said. He suggested that Mr Duke’s criticism might have been politically motivated, saying the former governor had failed to consider the project’s importance to the Niger Delta.
“In Bayelsa, we have successfully constructed dual carriage roads and bridges in similar terrain and our state is better for it,” he said.