The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has defended President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s record in the South East, dismissing claims by Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe that the region has no reason to support the President and warning that such assertions distort facts and ignore measurable progress.
Speaking on Wednesday in Abuja at a press briefing, Umahi said Abaribe’s remarks amounted to an attack on both his personal integrity and the reality of federal investment in the South East under the Tinubu administration.
Umahi said his response was neither emotional nor partisan, but rooted in governance, facts and verifiable outcomes, “I am not speaking as a politician, I am speaking as a Minister who is directly involved in implementation and who knows what is happening on ground,” he emphasised.
He insisted that the South East has benefitted significantly under Tinubu, stressing that governors from the region are fully aligned with the President.
“All of the South East governments are supporting the president, because the president has provided inclusive governance in the country,” he said.
Using Abia State as an example, Umahi rejected claims of marginalisation, pointing to what he described as the strong performance of Governor Alex Otti, saying, “The performance of Governor Otti is a product of the national environment created by President Bola Tinubu.
“If we did not have the audacity and courage to bring this moment to the sub nationals, Governor Otti would not be doing what he is doing”.
He said Governor Otti himself had acknowledged the role of the Federal government in enabling reforms and development at the state level.
Umahi contrasted the current administration with the previous one, accusing the past government of excluding the South East from key national security positions for eight years.
“How can a zone be totally excluded. President Bola Tinubu corrected that wickedness,” he affirmed.
He cited the appointment of a South East officer as Chief of the Naval Staff, followed by other strategic security roles, and disclosed that the President recently approved the establishment of an army depot in Abia State.
He said: “This is very key. The president has favoured Abia State and by extension the entire South East by providing an army training level to tackle insecurity”.
Umahi dismissed Abaribe’s claim that the South East would not vote for Tinubu in 2027, saying it reflected a personal opinion rather than the region’s collective position.
“He was talking about himself. The governors of the South East are very happy and very grateful,” the Minister stressed.
He defended the administration’s economic reforms, citing improvements in currency stability, inflation moderation, student loan interventions, food price monitoring and enhanced security operations.
The worst is over. President Tinubu is taking back the country for Nigerians.
Calling for restraint and responsibility in public discourse, Umahi warned against what he described as deliberate misinformation.
When people counsel without knowledge, it becomes dangerous.
He urged South East citizens to embrace national unity and reject narratives of exclusion.
This country belongs to all of us. No one is a stranger. We all have equal rights.
On infrastructure, Umahi listed multiple Federal projects across the region, saying they directly contradicted claims of neglect, citing the Enugu power plant, which he said became functional under Tinubu, and several major road and bridge projects in Abia, Enugu, Ebonyi and Imo States.
He also defended the Lagos
-Calabar Coastal Highway project, describing allegations of procurement breaches as a direct attack on his integrity.
“There are three kinds of procurement processes under the Procurement Act. I want him to go and study it and come back to tell me whether there was any infringement,” he explained.
Umahi said the project complied fully with Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) requirements and underwent extensive stakeholder engagement.
“The Dutch Development Bank evaluated it and came out to say the project is properly packaged, the quality is of very high standard, and that is why it was oversubscribed by one hundred million dollars,” he pointed out.
He further listed ongoing projects including the Trans Saharan road section linking South East States valued at four hundred and fifty six billion naira, the Second Niger Bridge bypass at one hundred and seventy billion naira, the Enugu-Abakaliki dual carriageway, and several tax credit funded roads involving Dangote Industries.
“That road has been ongoing for the past twenty years and was put to rest by President Tinubu,” he noted.
Umahi also pointed to completed and near completed flyovers in Enugu and improved connectivity between Aba and Port Harcourt, saying, “Before, you could not travel between Aba and Port Harcourt, today, one carriageway is fully completed”.
The Minister said aggressive road investment remains central to the President’s economic strategy, “Roads are the catalyst that grows the GDP. Every other sector grows from it,” he said
He disclosed that the Ministry of Works has deployed over eighty independent media supervisors to monitor projects and report progress directly to the public.
They go to the corridors, interview people, video the projects and post them, so Nigerians can see and comment.
He also announced the Presidential Infrastructure and Engineering Leadership Programme, under which ten young civil engineers from each state will be attached to major projects to acquire hands on skills, alongside artisans such as carpenters, electricians, mechanics and equipment operators, with implementation beginning in January.
On contract reforms, Umahi said the government has abolished abusive variation of price practices, “If we give you a job, you must do the job. You cannot bid low and later come back with excuses,” he stressed.
He said advance payments must now be exhausted before further claims are made, while anti corruption agencies have been directed to verify all federal road projects awarded since 2020, “If you have any petition, write to EFCC or ICPC. They are already on site,” he added.
Umahi added that the government is leveraging innovative financing models, committing thirty percent counterpart funding while attracting up to seventy percent international financing, with several investors expressing interest in highway concessions.
