Minister of Works Dave Umahi has called on south-east leaders to openly back President Bola Tinubu’s second-term ambition, pointing to federal infrastructure investment in the region as justification.
Speaking in Abuja on Tuesday while receiving a report from the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on its northwest tour of federal road projects, Umahi urged south-east politicians to be more forthright with their constituents about what he called the benefits of the administration.
“It is a strategic decision that we Igbos must make,” Umahi said, praising south-east governors—and Anambra State’s governor in particular—for what he described as their courage in publicly endorsing Tinubu.
The minister argued that assessments of marginalisation should weigh infrastructure spending alongside political appointments, insisting the current administration has delivered in areas long neglected. He pointed to his own record, first as Ebonyi State governor for eight years and now as Minister of Works, as evidence of what south-east cooperation with Abuja can achieve.
“I call for debate. If you are insulting me, insult me constructively,” he said, adding that regions supporting Tinubu now could expect reciprocal backing when it is the south-east’s turn to produce a president.
Students Praised for Independent Project Inspections
Umahi commended the NANS delegation for declining logistical support from the ministry and insisting instead on unhindered access to inspect federal road sites across all six geopolitical zones independently. He called the move a sign of responsible leadership and welcomed civil society groups seeking to monitor the projects as well.
Road Network Expansion Detailed
According to Umahi, the federal government has expanded its four legacy road projects from roughly 700 kilometres to about 1,150 kilometres following a presidential directive. He cited the 1,068-kilometre Sokoto–Badagry corridor and the 135-kilometre Akwanga–Jos road, currently under construction, as examples—noting that only about 30 percent of the expanded network represents genuinely new construction, most of it tied to the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway.
Other projects listed included the 156-kilometre Gombe–Bauchi road, the 149-kilometre Bauchi–Jos road, a roughly 400-kilometre Ogoja–Calabar link, and the Biu–Maiduguri corridor. The Bauchi–Gombe road has been fully rehabilitated, he said, while severed sections in Bauchi and Jigawa are being reconstructed with box culverts, rigid concrete pavement, and asphalt surfacing.
Umahi said the federal government is funding 30 percent of the legacy projects directly, with the remaining 70 percent financed through foreign loans to be repaid via tolls once the roads are completed.
Defending the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway against critics, Umahi said much of the corridor runs through the Niger Delta, passing through Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states—making it a project of both regional and national economic significance. (NAN)
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