‘Nobody can hold Nigeria to ransom’ — Umahi threatens to report contractors to ICPC

David Umahi, minister of works, says the federal government is committed to completing 18,897 kilometres of road projects inherited from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

Umahi spoke on Tuesday after a meeting with the president at Aso Rock.

The minister estimated the worth of the road projects to be N14 trillion, noting that the government has only N5.1 trillion available with a funding deficit of N6 trillion.

“President Bola Tinubu is committed to the completion of this 18,897 kilometre of roads. And I want to thank him, it shows that governance is continuity and it shows that it’s all about the welfare of the people,” he said.

“So where we are now is a fight that if you want to do Asphalt work, nobody has told contractors not to do as hard work, but with conditions.

“[The] 18,897 kilometres of roads is worth N14 trillion, there are sources of N5.1 trillion. So we have a funding gap of N6 trillion, which is going to come from Mr. President’s ingenuity. He will figure it out.”

Umahi said there are some contractors that might face the anti-graft agencies for allegedly frustrating the efforts of the government.

“There are some elements within that are also fighting me, who are also benefitting from the system and that is the greatest problem we have and I just pretended,” he said.

“I will flush those elements out and send them to ICPC to handle them because nobody can hold this country to ransom. So I’m giving them the last chance to conform to what will help Mr. President to reset the country.

“Then we are also going to leverage the contract we signed, it is 14 days’ notice we are going to give. I’ve had more than 10 different meetings with contractors where we discussed this.”