The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has declared his support for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s re-election bid, saying he will campaign for and vote for the President in 2027 despite growing political competition in the South-East.
Umahi, who spoke on Saturday during an inspection of the 65-kilometre Afikpo-Uturu-Okigwe Federal Road in Okigwe, Imo State, questioned whether his decision to support Tinubu instead of Labour Party presidential hopeful Peter Obi amounted to an offence.
The minister said, “I won’t vote for Obi but Tinubu, is that a crime?”, arguing that the Tinubu administration’s infrastructure projects across the South-East should be enough to convince residents to support the President.
According to him, the region would “vote massively” for Tinubu because of the Federal Government’s ongoing road and other infrastructure projects.
Umahi said the projects demonstrated that the Tinubu administration had paid attention to the development needs of the South-East, adding that the region should assess the government on the basis of tangible projects rather than political sentiments.
The minister spoke against the backdrop of the inspection of the Afikpo-Uturu-Okigwe road, which is being constructed under the Federal Government’s tax-credit scheme, with Dangote Industries Limited as the sponsoring company and Hi-Tech Construction as the contractor.
‘60m mountain must give way’
Umahi also disclosed that the Federal Government had commenced preparatory work to remove a mountain measuring more than 60 metres high along a critical section of the highway.
He said President Tinubu had directed that the natural obstacle be removed to improve safety and reduce accidents along the route.
“This mountain, by the command of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, must collapse for the people of South-East,” the minister said.
Umahi described the mountain section as one of the most technically challenging portions of the project, saying its removal would help reduce the loss of lives recorded along the corridor.
“This place is very challenging. We have a mountain that is over 60 metres high. If God helps us in the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to achieve this, this will be a major saving of lives for the people of South-East. This place has consumed many lives,” he said.
The minister said more than 20 kilometres of the 65-kilometre road had been completed, while commending the contractor for the quality of work.
He particularly praised the concrete pavement being used on the project, describing it as superior to those used on some other major Federal Government highways.
The Project Controller, Maxwell Oko, said the Highway F112 project consisted of 9.9 kilometres of dual carriageway and 55.55 kilometres of single carriageway.
Oko said the road was being delivered through the tax-credit arrangement, with Dangote Industries Limited as the sponsoring company and Hi-Tech Construction as the executing contractor.
He said the highway was a major arterial route connecting communities and adjoining federal highways across Ebonyi, Abia and Imo states.
The Managing Director of Hi-Tech Construction, Christopher Aucamp, said preparatory operations had commenced at the mountainous section ahead of major excavation and earthworks.
Aucamp said three excavators would be deployed to speed up the excavation and reshaping of the terrain.
“We bring three excavators down so we can start demolishing the mountain and start filling the full areas to straighten the road out a little bit,” he said.
He added that the company was constructing a second bypass to ensure safer movement for students and other road users while work continued around the mountain.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, South-East, Chioma Nweze, commended the Federal Government for prioritising strategic road infrastructure in the region.
Nweze said the Afikpo-Uturu-Okigwe highway would improve connectivity, open up communities and markets and boost commercial activities across the affected states.
She listed the Enugu-Onitsha, Enugu-Port Harcourt, Enugu-Abakaliki, Abakaliki Trans-Sahara and Onitsha-Owerri roads among major Federal Government projects ongoing in the South-East.
She said the projects reflected the Tinubu administration’s efforts to address infrastructure deficits and integrate the South-East more closely into the national economy.
When completed, the Afikpo-Uturu-Okigwe highway is expected to strengthen the transport link between Ebonyi, Abia and Imo states, improve access to markets and institutions and facilitate movement along adjoining interstate highways.
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