Minister of Works David Umahi has challenged former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi to a debate on road infrastructure, saying it is in bad taste to take a picture of a bad portion of road for campaign reasons.
Umahi threw the challenge during the commissioning of the Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Borno superhighway on Wednesday in Nasarawa State, noting that Obi should know the realities of governance as a former governor.
“It makes me very sad when my brother, the former governor of Anambra State, who should know governance, makes some statements. I saw on social media where he got to a bad spot on the road and took a picture. It is bad for his dignity and personality.
“And I’m always up for a debate. I’m always willing to break down the cost, the unique cost of concrete, and debate with him. And so I feel so sad because governance is the responsibility of everybody,” he added.
He added that the federal government would cover Yobe and from Yobe, Gombe to Maiduguri whose entire length is 700 kilometres.
“Don’t forget that the first legacy project of Mr President is 750 cutting across Lagos to Ondo to Edo to Delta to Bayelsa to Rivers to Akwa Ibom and Cross River. And then the third legacy project takes off from Cross River where the first legacy project stopped. And that is from Cross River to my state, Ebonyi, where we are beginning the first section. The second section has just been approved and it is going from Ebonyi down to Benue, down to the Benue boundary between Benue and Ebonyi. “That’s another 168 kilometres on offer,” he said.
In his remarks, President Bola Tinubu said the road is a legacy project approved by the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and built in sections.
In Section 1, Phase 1 of the Akwanga–Maiduguri Superhighway, it is a 125-kilometre stretch from Akwanga–Kaduna–Jos, Nasarawa, Kaduna and Plateau States as part of the larger 700-kilometre Akwanga–Maiduguri Superhighway, cutting across five states in the North-East as follows:
“Akwanga-Kaduna-Jos, 125 kilometres; Jos-Bauchi, 135 kilometres; Bauchi-Gombe, 162 kilometres; Gombe-Biu, 125 kilometres; Biu to Maiduguri, 188 kilometres – a total of 700 kilometres. They are distances between communities and cities along one of the most important inland corridors in the country,” he said.
