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The Minister of Works, Senator Dave Umahi, has scored Nigerian President, Bola Ahmed Tinubu high in his performance in road construction and other projects in the nation's South East region.
Despite not getting much votes from the south east during the 2023 Presidential election, Sen Umahi said the President has remained focused in delivering impactful projects in the region, against claims of neglect by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe.
The minister spoke on Thursday at a press briefing to review activities of his ministry where he also reacted to recent comments by Senator Abaribe on allegations of neglect by the current administration on infrastructure development.
Umahi who highlighted several Federal road and bridge projects in the South-East, as 123.5-kilometres of the Transahara Road linking Ebonyi to Abuja, the Second Niger Bridge bypass, Enugu–Abakaliki dual carriageway, Enugu–Onitsha Road, Enugu–Port Harcourt Road, the Atani Bridge reconstruction and multiple flyover projects in Enugu State, among others, noted that even the governors themselves have acknowledged that sub-national governments were part of the national system headed by the President and that he has been supportive of their projects.
He also mentioned the recent approval for the establishment of an army training depot in Ebonyi State to address insecurity challenge in the region as well as the Aba Geometric Power Plant which has become fully operational under President Tinubu and now a major boost to commercial and industrial activities in the region.
He equally disclosed of reforms within the Ministry of Works geared towards service delivery to the people such as daily digital supervision platforms involving directors, controllers and permanent secretaries, the deployment of over 80 independent media supervisors, and the launch of the Development-to-Home Mentorship Programme to train engineers, artisans and operators on major projects.
"It is not correct to say the President has done nothing for the South-East. Every success recorded by governors today, particularly in the South-East, is tied to the courage of Mr President to release more funds to the states,” the Minister said.
Continuing, he said; “Let me use the opportunity to talk about what a Senator from my zone has said, talking about the President, and he mentioned me, and that’s Senator Abaribe. Incidentally, he’s my in-law, and I sent him a text that I’m going to reply to him and he said to me that he spoke as an opposition, and nothing personal.
“I’m also going to speak on behalf of the government as far as the issues he raised are concerned, and there will be nothing personal about it.
“First and foremost, I boasted and I still boast that all the Southeast governors are supporting the president, because the President has provided inclusive governance in the country.
“He (Senator Abaribe) said that there is no support, that what has the President done for them (Southeast), that they will support him.
“I want to tell you what the president has done for the governors of Southeast and also for the zone. In the first place, the governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, is my cousin, who is actually doing very well.
“I attended an occasion with Governor Otti and also Senator Abaribe, and he praised Gov Otti very highly for his performances. And of course, I agree totally with him and other people. They love and support the governor because of his capacity and serious shift in terms of dividends of democracy, judging from the past administrations.
“So let me tell Senator Abaribe that the performance of Governor Otti is a product of President Bola Tinubu. If he (Mr. President) didn’t have the audacity and courage to release more money to the governors, gov Otti would not be doing what he’s doing.
“Senator Abaribe needs to know that the Enugu Port Harcourt has been ongoing, and a journey of two and a half hours would take seven hours. Before the president came on board, you wouldn’t travel between Aba and Port Harcourt. Today, one full carriageway is fully completed, and you can engage one carriageway from Enugu, straight to Port Harcourt. And the governors of Southeast are very happy.
“They are very grateful to the president, and I can boldly say that the president has done very well for Southeast people.”
The Minister also listed completed and ongoing projects such as the reconstruction and commissioning of the Atani Bridge in Enugu State, the Emene flyover, and improved travel times on major federal highways across the region.
He attributed the neglect in road infrastructure in the South East to previous administrations, maintaining that the current one of the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu has actually succeeded in correcting years of neglect and so should be applauded.
Umahi stressed that every procurement on the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway followed all provisions of the Public Procurement Act, including Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA), public advertisement, stakeholder engagement as well as international evaluation.
For instance, the minister said that foreign financiers, including the Dutch Development Bank assessed the project and confirmed it was well packaged in terms of high quality, which resulted in an oversubscription of about $100 million.
“International funders are thorough. They would not touch a project where due process was breached."
The minister lamented that despite these efforts of the President, vandalism of road infrastructure is on increase, just as roadside trading and heavy duty trucks are constituting nuisance on the road.
He therefore urged the people to own these projects and work with the government to succeed.
Already, the minister revealed that he would engage the Inspector-General of Police to bring back highway patrol units across the country to protect completed and ongoing projects.
The minister urged South-East leaders and residents to support the current administration to continue with the good work.
He urged contractors who abandoned their project due to fund challenge to back to site, assuring them of Mr President" willingness to pay them