Minister of Works, David Umahi, has firmly responded to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde’s questioning of the cost of the ambitious Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting the governor fundamentally misunderstood the technical aspects of road construction.
Speaking during an inspection tour of the Keffi Bridge and the Nasarawa–Toto Road projects on Saturday, Umahi described Governor Makinde as a “brother and friend” but rebuked him for reducing the complex engineering costs to “political soundbites.”
Governor Makinde, a fellow engineer, had publicly criticized the figures for the cost per kilometer of the flagship infrastructure project. Umahi, an electrical engineer by training, asserted his seniority and expertise in the practical field of civil construction.
Addressing Makinde’s qualifications for critiquing the cost, Umahi said:
”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. 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’.”
Umahi maintained that he is Makinde’s senior “both in governance and in engineering practice,” and demanded a retraction of the governor’s suggestion that the Minister was “dancing around” the figures.
He offered a direct challenge: “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.”
The Minister proceeded to explain that there is no ambiguity in the project’s valuation, which relies on two technical terms: estimated cost (which includes contingencies and variation of price) and average cost (which is definitive after completion). He quipped that the validity of his explanation was even backed by technology.
”When somebody who is dangling without knowledge goes to ask AI what the difference is between cost per kilometre and average cost, I’m happy that AI told him exactly what I said,” Umahi said, affirming that the project cost was computed using global engineering standards.
