The Minister of Works Senator David Umahi has said that the total projects that the president Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing, both inherited and legacy projects that are ongoing, is a total of N34 trillion.
He said that some Nigerians are asking why President borrows money? “We are borrowing because of things we do on our roads and bridges”.
Speaking during inspection of projects along Abakaliki-Afikpo highway of Ebonyi State Umahi said “the good thing is that when we borrow and we invest in infrastructure, rebuild that road for the next 100 years.
“So when people ask why we’re borrowing, tell them this story, that we have to borrow to build infrastructure.
And you can see that what we are doing on the road is like building a bridge. So for the next 100 years, we will not have to think about doing anything on such projects that the president is doing.
At Abaomege axis of the road, he said ” This is the third legacy project of President Morameti. This project is supposed to start from the end of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway at Calabar end and is supposed to run from Calabar to Ndibe Beach. We decided to dualize the roads because what we have procured is a single carriageway, 12 meters all through, 123 kilometers of roads, reinforced concrete pavements with solar lights. And the total cost is about N 454 billion.
“And the President has graciously paid 50% of this project. But at a boom again flyover, going front, we are dualizing it up to one kilometer. And going backwards, we are dualizing it up to one kilometer. And that’s what you are seeing here.
Now, at the end of this section one of the Calabar to Benue, Kogi-Nasarawa to Apo in Abuja, which is 465 kilometers. We have started section two. This section two is 178 kilometers and it’s running from, the boundary between Benue, going through Benue and it passes through Kogi, passing through Nasarawa and it ends at Owete Bridge, 178 kilometers, N685 billion, single carriageway.
“However, we are now procuring the second carriageway, which is a total of about 295 kilometers. So, meaning that from Calaba we are going to have the second carriageway to be like the other three legacy projects of the President.
And the contractor is Infouest,
“Whether we like it or not, we may not get it better than what the president is doing for us. And I think that being Minister of Works has also added to the impetus of the Southeast people to under President Tinubu to reclaim their position within the context of Nigeria.
“So I ask my people, the Southeast people, to reign with wisdom and not sentiments. We will support President Tinubu in Southeast. We will not make mistakes. This election is not lottery, and the presidency is not given by sentiments.
“It’s given by strategic planning. And we have been integrated, and we as people of Southeast should be grateful to President Tinubu .And I’m saying that anybody who thinks otherwise in Southeast can come for debate.
“Let us know what we’ve been agitating for that we have not gotten. It may not be 100 percent, but the president has majorly addressed a lot of problems. Infrastructure is very key for the commerce of our people, for the education of our people, for the well-being of our people” Umahi stated
