A think tank body of policy analysts known as the Independent Media and Policy Initiative (IMPI) have justified the N2.8 trillion to be expended on the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.
The group which faulted former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s criticism of the project that there is enough proof to support the cost of the mega project, said it was appropriate.
IMPI in a statement by its Chairman, Niyi Akinsiju in Abuja Wednesday said it found that all the claims by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate were off the mark and targeted at discrediting the project.
The think tank group acknowledged the track record of the project handling firm in constructing coastal highways with reinforced concrete in many countries, citing the successful handling of the Bar Beach Shoreline protection.
On Atiku’s criticism of the cost of the project, the policy group insisted that a cost analysis of road projects similar to the Lagos-Calabar highway in some parts of the world showed that the cost of the project was appropriate.
“We note that there is no unified standard pricing template for the cost of building a kilometre of road anywhere in the world. The realities of road building have much to do with several variables: location, terrain, type of construction, number of lanes, lane width, surface durability, and the number of bridges, to name a few
“Yet, for engagement, we reviewed some cost estimates in some other countries to establish the context of fraud or otherwise that Waziri Abubakar is trying to throw up.
“To build a 2-lane road of 12 metres wide of each lane with no bridges in states of North Eastern United States of America is $3.34m per km (when converted to Naira using the N1200/$ adopted by Umahi, it comes to N4.08bn per km) while the same 2-lane road in South Eastern USA with no bridges is $ 3.78m per km (N4.53bn per km),” it said.
The policy think tank added that the federal government deserves commendation for reducing the cost of the project to N4.329bn per km from the N8.52bn/km in the initial design for a four-lane Lagos-Calabar highway by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
