President Bola Tinubu has earmarked more than ₦1.3 trillion for the rehabilitation and construction of road and bridge projects in the South-East, according to Minister of Works, David Umahi.
The minister stated this in a press release on Monday, titled “President Tinubu Treating the South-East Region with Fairness and Equity in Road and Bridge Infrastructure Development.”
Umahi’s clarification followed the circulation of an article titled “The Politics of Asphalt: Why is the South-East Missing from the Map?” which he described as a deliberate attempt to mislead the public and distort facts.
“My attention as the Minister of Works has been drawn to a wrong and misleading statement in social media published by one Mr Linus Anagboso (D-Big Pen) captioned: ‘The Politics of Asphalt: Why is the South East missing from the map?’”
He accused the author of exploiting political sentiments to paint a false picture of marginalisation in the region.
“I understand that politics is now in the air, and the chosen path by some persons is to deceive unsuspecting members of the public, look good before the people as one fighting for them, and close both eyes pretentiously over the great and selfless infrastructure development which Mr President is doing all over the nation.”
To counter these claims, Umahi said he had directed regional directors of the Federal Ministry of Works to return to project sites nationwide and compile reports on both ongoing and inherited projects.
This, he said, would provide transparency and allow Nigerians to appreciate the scale of federal investment in infrastructure.
“I have directed all the regional directors of the Federal Ministry of Works back to sites in all the regions across the country to compile all inherited but ongoing projects and all new projects in all the regions so that Nigerians will appreciate the huge works that Mr President is doing in all the regions irrespective of those who voted for him and those who did not.”
He reiterated that President Tinubu is promoting national unity through balanced infrastructure development.
“Mr President is using the fair distribution of infrastructure to reunite Nigerians and renew their hope.”
Umahi cited several key federal projects in the South-East, particularly within the President’s third legacy project, which cuts across six states, including three in the South-East.
“In addressing specifically this misleading information and for the records, Mr President has four legacy projects, and they cover the six geo-political zones with the South-East region well captured within the third legacy project of Cross River-Ebonyi-Benue-Kogi-Nasarawa-Abuja, totaling 465km x 2 with South-East covering 231.64km x 2 and 231.64km x 1 for N445.8bn already awarded and work is going on. Mr President has already paid N108bn.”
He explained that the Federal Executive Council’s July 31 meeting was focused on reviewing this corridor.
“What happened in the Federal Executive Council on July 31, 2025, was a review of that corridor from 118km x 1 to 231.64km x 1 for N445.8bn. This misleading writer chose to change the narrative of my press briefing after the Federal Executive Council of Tran Sahara Section 1 (Ebonyi State to Benue border – 123.64km at N445.8 billion but deliberately chose to call it Oyo-Benue border road to deceive and incite unsuspecting members of the public.”
He demanded a correction of the misinformation, though he did not insist on an apology.
“Under his (Tinubu’s) administration, 90 per cent of abandoned projects, some awarded as far back as 2013, were all revived, and all are now ongoing. It is noteworthy to mention that there is huge ongoing work on the 2nd Niger Bridge access road 2A in Delta State which is valued at N146bn and 2B in Anambra State which is valued at N176bn, the Enugu-Onitsha road – 208km (MTN Tax Credit which is valued at N202bn and CBC completing the remaining section at N150bn of which N45bn was released last week), the Enugu–Port Harcourt road in four sections, the Enugu-Abakaliki, the Afikpo (Ebonyi)–Abia–Imo road, the Onitsha–Owerri–Aba road, the Aba–Ikot Ekpene road, the Umuahia–Ikot Ekpene road etc.”
Umahi closed by urging South-East citizens to stand with the President, citing his equitable treatment of the region as evidence of goodwill.
“I request the South-East people to rise in support of President Bola Tinubu because he has demonstrated unwavering love and fairness to the people of the South-East. We must not be deceived again. Mr President must have the votes of the South-East up to 90 per cent to cement this relationship.”
