The former Vice President of Nigeria and perennial presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar in one of his now boring criticism of the monumental Lagos-Calabar coastal road has accused President Bola Tinubu of conflict of interest in the choice of Hitech Construction Company to execute the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project.
His reason? Mr. Seyi Tinubu, the son of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is listed as a Director on the board of CDK Integrated Industries, a subsidiary of the Chagoury Group, which is also the parent company of Hitech Construction Company Ltd.
If this is the only reason Atiku Abubakar can come up after months of investigation just to prove conflict of interest in the award of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal road project to Hitech and ultimately discredit it, then it is one of the lamest proofs one can imagine.
First and foremost, CDK Integrated Industries is not into road construction, rather they manufacture ceramic tiles, sanitary towels etc.
Secondly, the company was not awarded the contract to construct the Lagos-Calabar coastal road, which is the subject of Atiku’s headache since the project kicked off.
Thirdly, Seyi Tinubu, though the President’s son, is not an elected government official and does not participate in the award of contracts. The issue of conflict of interest therefore does not arise, not even remotely. Seyi Tinubu cannot pause his life as a private individual or businesses which he has been involved in for years just because his father was elected president. Nigerians elected Bola Ahmed Tinubu as president and not Seyi Tinubu.
Meanwhile it smirks of naked hypocrisy for Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to even discuss conflict of interest in the first place. His life as a public servant has been riddled with conflict of interest starting from when he co-founded Intels while still serving as a Senior Customs Officer. In this case he actively used his office to pave way for his company.
Even as Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria between 1999 and 2007, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar actively used his office to enrich his businesses including Intels, which got several concession in the oil and gas industry as well as maritime industry. In the national privatisation programme that Atiku Abubakar headed as the Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation, he did not remember conflict of interest when he cheaply sold off government properties to his family and friends, some of whom were simply his fronts.
To cap it all, when he was asked during the 2019 presidential election about fears that he would privatise NNPC and many government-owned enterprises to his friends and cronies if he became president, Atiku famously retorted, “are my friends not entitled to be rich?”
It is very obvious that Atiku Abubakar is simply looking for any straw to cling to as he battles for continued political relevance ahead of a possible routine presidential run in 2027. But it is very necessary to point out to Atiku that the award of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal road project to Hitech has nothing to do with conflict of interest. President Bola Tinubu or Engr. Dave Umahi are not Board members of Hitech or even any of the other several subsidiary companies under the Chagoury Group.
If there is anything Atiku Abubakar should be doing instead, it is to support this project considering the huge economic value it will bring to our nation and also because of the fact that Hitech is actually going to mobilise around 70% of the funding for this N15 trillion mega project. Atiku Abubakar should simply stop being enemy of progress.