The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has fired back at Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, over his recent mocking comments over the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Highway, stressing that the governor misunderstood the technical details of road construction and cost evaluation.
Speaking on Saturday with state governor Abdullahi Sule during an inspection tour of the Keffi Bridge and the Nasarawa–Toto Road projects, Umahi stated that the lagos-calabr highway’s cost had been carefully calculated in accordance with international engineering standards and shouldn’t be reduced to “political soundbites.”
Recall that Governor Makinde had yesterday crtiticsed the minister’s estimated figures on the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Highway, which is one of the signature infrastructure projects of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
Speaking at an event in a widely shared video on Friday, Makinde claimed that David Umahi, the Minister of Works, didn’t need to be “dancing around the cost” of the Lagos-Calabar Highway.
Read Also: Makinde Criticizes David Umahi on coastal highway cost claim
He said, “These are elementary questions. And it makes no sense (sic). A process is ongoing, payment has been made, and you are saying, ‘How has this money been utilised?. The money is meant for the project, and it will be paid according to the work done.
Reacting to the inspection tour, the minister of works described Makinde as “a brother and friend” however said that it was wrong for him to publicly accuse him of “dancing around” figures.
“I heard that my brother and friend, Governor Makinde, said something about the cost per kilometre. I don’t want to join issues with him,” Umahi said. “I think he is an engineer, while I am an electrical engineer, they call us ‘elect-elect’. But this road construction matter, ‘elect-elect no reach there’.”
He continued, “I am his senior both in governance and in engineering practice. So, anything he doesn’t understand, he should call me and ask. I have great respect for him as my friend and brother, but he should withdraw the statement that I’m dancing around. I never danced around. If he insists, he should come for a debate, which is very important.”
David Umahi further defended the lagos- calabar highway project by emphasising that the cost per kilometre must be understood in both estimated and average terms and that there was no room for doubt in this calculation.
“There is no ambiguity in cost per kilometre,” he said. “I am teaching them that cost per kilometre can be divided into estimated cost, which has elements of variance, and average cost, which is definitive. The average cost of a definitive project and the estimated cost are probable elements.”
He clarified that the projected cost for the Lagos-Calabar Highway, accounts for pricing fluctuations and contingencies that might not be used in the end.
Umahi found it amusing that some critics had gone so far as to ask AI to explain the discrepancy between average and estimated costs, and that the AI’s response coincided with his explanation.
He also referenced the National Universities Commission’s explanation of the requirements for becoming a professor, pointing out that expertise also includes real-world experience in the topic.
“I’m happy that the NUC programme on who is a professor also made me right. You can become a professor by the reason of your practice. And I think God has made me one when it comes to practical, field engineering programmes, that’s what it is; you can’t take it back,” Umahi said.
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