Mary Idika
The Minister of Works has made it clear that his recent political statements are not intended to disparage the Labour Party’s presidential candidate but to persuade his kinsmen to support the incumbent president.
Senator David Umahi voiced his unwavering commitment to President Bola Tinubu’s re-election campaign, attributing his loyalty to the tangible infrastructural transformations witnessed across the nation, especially in the South-East geopolitical zone.
During a project inspection tour along the Cross River–Abuja highway corridor, the Minister also highlighted key policy directives aimed at maximising local content and accelerating critical road construction works.
According to him, Section Two of the project, spanning about 168 kilometres through Ebonyi, Benue, Enugu and Kogi States, has also been mobilised after the Federal Government paid 30 per cent mobilisation to the contractor.
He said that some people have been insulting him for supporting Tinubu and not supporting Peter Obi, his brother, saying that he has no regret supporting Tinubu, who he said is changing the narrative of South East marginalization infrastructurally.
“They have been insulting me. But I enjoyed this honestly because it shows that what I’m doing is touching them. But there are some of them that are also reasonable. They say the only thing is that you’re attacking Peter Obi.
” I say, no, I’m not attacking Peter Obi. I’m asking people in Southeast and Nigeria not to vote for him but to vote for President Bola Tinubu…And I have my facts.
“All the projects awarded by Tinubu will be completed. In the second tenure of Mr. President, let us not take risks. Don’t forget that any other person coming, you have to start with negotiating abandoned projects is not new in this country. But under President Tinubu, there will be no abandoned project. All these projects, all legacy projects, will be completed.
“The Enugu-Onitsha expressway is a success story. By December, that project is totally completed with solar light and tree planting, majorly on reinforced concrete type pavements. And we are going to do tolling there. The essence of the tolling is just for the maintenance of the road and then to have security that is going to be patrolling the road.
“And that is what we want to do, you know, all through. This is very important. And so I commend the contractor and the acting controller, you know, for their commitment, and it looks like all the SSAs of Mr. President are becoming engineers.
“When they speak, you know, they speak, you know, showing that we’ve been together. I encourage them to tell the story to community leaders and members.
Umahi disclosed that Section One of the Cross River–Abuja Legacy Highway, covering about 125 kilometres, was nearing completion, with more than 30 per cent of the alignment traversing Ebonyi communities.
He said contractors had been directed to employ more local workers to maximise the economic benefits accruing to host communities.
According to him, Section Two of the project, spanning about 168 kilometres through Ebonyi, Benue, Enugu and Kogi States, has also been mobilised after the Federal Government paid 30 per cent mobilisation to the contractor.
