.jpg)
Many people may not clearly know the difference between the two words ‘servants’ and ‘houseboys’, as the line between them is very thin. They may even be erroneously used interchangeably.
But the hostilities started by the House of Representatives Committee on Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) against the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, is shinning more lights on the two words.
Throwing the first stone, the Chairman of the House Committee on FERMA, Remi Oseni, had openly declared that the Minister of Works has failed and misplaced his priorities over roads construction in the country.
He went further to accuse the minister of neglecting his duty and priorities and concentrating on less priority areas.
Making some clarification on the outburst by the Committee chairman, the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, countered that the ministry and the leadership are servants but not houseboys.
In essence the ministry leadership are servants to the people they are serving in line with the mandates of the ministry, but not houseboys to be pushed around, insulted at will and peed on by the superior.
With the insults from the committee chairman, the Minister of works also told journalists that he will not appear before the FERMA committee, which had no direct oversight on the ministry.
Stressing that he will not join issues with Oseni because of the respect he has for the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly, Senator Umahi, however said he needed to make some clarification on some of the issues raised.
Noting that his ministry in the last 14 months has done well within the challenging circumstances it operated, the Minister said that the committee Chairman is using every opportunity to insult him and the Federal Ministry of Works, and leaving his area of responsibility, which is FERMA.
For Oseni to have full oversight over his ministry, he urged him to apply to be a Co-Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Works.
The House Committee Chairman on FERMA, he said, is being used to hit him and his ministry by some aggrieved contractors that are not happy with ongoing reforms in the ministry.
He said that he will only appear before the committee if the Speaker of the House of Representatives, intervenes.
He said, “Let me say that I was not physically present at the meeting, nor was my permanent secretary because nobody can talk to me like that in my presence. It’s not possible.
“And from what I gathered, he is possibly working with some contractors who are not happy with the reform in the Ministry of Works, or he thought I was going to be removed. And so his anger is, why was I not removed?
“For the respect of Mr. Speaker, and of course the Senate President, and the National Assembly Institution that I belong to, I will refrain myself from joining issues with him.
“He said I have failed. No one in life ever said I have failed and I have never failed in anything I am involved in, and if he likes, he should go and check my pedigree.
"I believe that God has to be with him to attain half of what I have attained in life. So, I will not join issues with him because I have tremendous respect for Mr Speaker and the National Assembly.”
The Minister went on “When he invites us, of course, we will not attend any invitation unless Mr. Speaker directs otherwise.
“Because this is the same man that had a public function in Lagos, and he was insulting me. And again, he was insulting me.
“By next week, we are going to publish what success we have achieved in those N300bn projects. We used it to procure over 330 roads, palliatives, and bridge repairs, which were properly procured and properly executed.
“Today, we have achieved over 85 per cent completion. And so when we publish it, I want him to go there, I’m going to put the phone number of the contractors and then put the status, and he can verify.
“And when he verifies, I request that he tenders an all-reserved apology because all he did was to represent the contractors and incite the public against the government that brought him in.” the Minister stated
To complete the 2,604 ongoing road projects inherited by the Tinubu’s administration, the Minister also disclosed that N19tn will be required by the Federal Government.
The figure, he said, increased from the initially estimated sum of N13tn due to escalation in costs of the projects and increasing challenges associated with infrastructure development and the need for additional funding to address the urgent projects.
The costs, he noted, also increased due to the dwindling foreign exchange rate and the price of bitumen.
Despite the challenges, the Minister said that the ministry has completed 85 per cent of 330 emergency projects awarded by the government in July 2024.
He stressed that all the projects cannot be completed within the 14 months his tenure has spent so far,
He said, “The issue of fewer priorities by the House of Rep members was the variation of price, and that was a very terrible programme that was eroding the little resources we put in the budget to do projects.
“Before we came on board, there were these issues of variation of price and foreign exchange differential. Some contractors were claiming them. Essentially, two of them. But that less priority that he talked about was that we stopped them. And we have no regrets about stopping them.
“And let me say to him that the projects Mr. President inherited were a total of 2,604 projects as of May 29, 2023. The total cost was N13tn. That’s what the President inherited. And a debt to contractors of N1.6tn. And when you look at the variation because of the fuel subsidy removal and the floating of the naira against the dollar, if these projects are reviewed, the cost of these projects will increase to N19tn, just to complete the ongoing projects.
“Mr President manifested all the projects in the 2024 budget with the hope of giving him time to look for resources, including loans, to do these projects.
“But the truth I want the public to know is that N13tn projects inherited, today it should be over N20tn because, at that time, it was N500 to a dollar.
"Today the dollar is N1,700. At that time the ton of bitumen was like N600,000 per ton. But today it is N1.2 million per ton. And so you have to understand this. There is a transition before we stabilize.” he added
According to him, this was the reason the President in the 2023 supplementary budget approved N300bn to take care of several palliatives.
“By next week, we are going to publish what success we have achieved in those N300bn projects. We used it to procure over 330 roads, palliatives, and bridge repairs, which were properly procured and properly executed.
“As of today, we have achieved over 85 per cent completion. And so when we publish it, I want him to go there and verify. And I request that he tenders an all-reserved apology because all he did was to represent the contractors and incite the public against the government that brought him in,” he stated.
He also disclosed that about 10 projects have been terminated by the current administration as they had been awarded over one and a half decades ago.
Urging for commendation for the President, the Minister said he has paid attention to special mega road projects in the country.
The Minister explained that there is a priority given to the ministry in terms of the supplementary budget for 2023/2024, while N1.6tn was inherited in debt to contractors.
Speaking further on the issues of the Federal Emergency Road Maintenance Agency, Senator Umahi declared that their hands are clean and there is nothing to hide.
He noted that some contractors are unhappy with the ministry and are pushing for the removal of the minister.
“There is no way you expect some project that lasted up to 20 years to be done in one year. The Chairman said we are awarding projects that we are not ready to execute. And that is where the oversight function comes in. You have the records of what we have awarded." he stated
He said that the ministry has a total of N600bn in certified jobs for 2024 and N726bn under the NNPC tax credit scheme.
He also pointed out that the insecurity in the North-West has delayed some of the ongoing projects
Besides this, the Minister said that 50 workers were kidnapped for ransom by bandits in the zone.
It is very important to be very cautious in the choice of words and accusations being made by those in the position of authority in Nigeria, especially when there is no clear evidence to support such claims.
Peace and harmony should be allowed to prevail in order to facilitate an atmosphere for progress and development of Nigeria, for the benefit of all.
Selfish interests of anyone should not be allowed to clog the wheel of progress.