Works minister Dave Umahi has urged Igbos in the South-East to support President Bola Tinubu’s bid for a second term, citing the APC government’s infrastructure interventions in the zone.

Mr Umahi made the appeal in Abuja on Tuesday while receiving the report of the northwest leg of the Nationwide Federal Roads Project Tour conducted by the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).

He said that leaders from the south-east should be bold and vocal in educating their people on what he described as the benefits of supporting the Tinubu administration.

“It is a strategic decision that we Igbos must make. I commend the South-East governors and the governor of Anambra state for his bold decision. He is not afraid of telling our people the truth; the truth is that we must support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” he said.

The minister said the South-East should compare what the region benefited from successive administrations with the infrastructure and other interventions being undertaken by the Tinubu administration.

He argued that marginalisation should be considered from the point of the appointments, adding that infrastructure should also be considered. According to him, the Tinubu administration has broken the jinx in areas where the south-east had previously complained of marginalisation.

The minister also urged South-East stakeholders to support Mr Tinubu so that other regions would reciprocate when it becomes the zone’s turn to produce the president of the country.

Mr Umahi commended students who requested access to Federal Ministry of Works project sites across the six geopolitical zones to inspect ongoing projects independently. He said the students rejected the ministry’s logistics assistance, insisting on unhindered access to the projects.

Mr Umahi described the initiative as responsible leadership, saying the students had chosen to acquaint themselves with the projects rather than dwell on issues that would not add value to their future. He also welcomed civil society organisations that had indicated interest in monitoring the projects.

Mr Umahi said the federal government had expanded its four legacy road projects from about 700 kilometres to approximately 1,150 kilometres following a directive by the president. He cited the Sokoto-Badagry corridor, which he put at 1,068 kilometres, and the Akwanga-Jos road, which he said was 135 kilometres and currently under construction, as case studies.

“Only about 30 per cent of it is constructed as new projects, mostly the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. In most cases, the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway is also passing through an existing road, and we expanded it,” he said.

Mr Umahi listed other projects, including the 156km Gombe-Bauchi road, the 149km Bauchi-Jos road, the new Ogoja-Calabar connection of about 400 kilometres and the Biu-Maiduguri corridor. He said the Bauchi-Gombe road had been fully rehabilitated, while sections of roads in Bauchi and Jigawa states that had been cut off were being reconstructed using box culverts, rigid concrete pavement and asphalt surfacing.

The minister disclosed that the federal government was contributing 30 per cent of the funding for the legacy projects, while the remaining 70 per cent was being financed through foreign loans. He explained that the loans were predicated on tolling the roads on completion and using proceeds from the corridors to recover and repay the funds.

On the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, Mr Umahi defended the project against criticisms, saying a substantial portion of the corridor was located within the Niger Delta. He said the highway would pass through Ondo, Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River states, describing the project as important to the region and the national economy.

(NAN)