• Ex-VP alleges questionable dealings in contract award
• ‘It’s N4b per km, not N8b claimed by Atiku –Umahi
• ‘Face-off not about north versus south but transparency’
• Project benefits would transcend current politics, says DAWNAlthough some people have dismissed the disposition of Atiku toward the project as neither representing the mind of the entire North nor indicating that a particular ethnic group is against infrastructural projects in the South, some believe that the manner in which the former vice president vilified Tinubu over the project suggests that there is something deeper in his mind than the personal grouses he expressed, which include the cost of construction.
Atiku-Abubakar. Photo: ChannelsHe said the project being executed based on “build, operate, and transfer” indicated that Hitech would do the construction, operate it for a certain period, recoup its investment through tollgates, and subsequently return it to the Nigerian government.He alleged that the same Hitech, owned by Chagoury, was unable to complete the 50km Lekki-Epe Expressway. Despite installing two toll gates along the axis, Hitech which was part of the Lekki Concession Company consortium was only able to construct about 20km, forcing the Lagos State government to buy it back at the cost of N7.5billion ($50 million at the time) in 2013, which came at a loss to the people of Lagos, among others.He said as part of the benefits of the project, it would trigger the economy of southern states, particularly Lagos, by within 25 and 50 percent just as it would diversify the economy of all the hinterlands along the corridor.
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