Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has taken a swipe at the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, whose war of words with Arise TV presenter Rufai Oseni on Tuesday went viral.
Speaking at an event on Friday, Makinde, who justified the journalist’s questions, said Umahi was “dancing around the cost” of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
“They asked a minister how much is the coastal road is, and then you (Umahi) are dancing around and going to say that no, the next kilometre is different from the next kilometres. Then what is the average cost?
“When we did the Oyo to Iseyin road then, it was about N9.99 billion, almost N10 billion. About 34 or 35 kilometres, average cost is about N238 million per kilometre.
“But when we did Iseyin to Ogbomoso, that was 76 kilometres, it was about N43 billion, average cost is about N500 million per kilometre. And we had two bridges, one over the Ogun river and then one at Ogbomoso end,” Makinde stated.
Umahi’s heated exchange with Oseni on live television started when the latter asked the minister for an analysis of the cost of the project, kilometre by kilometre.
While expressing his disapproval at being probed, Umahi declared himself a professor in engineering, adding that the details would be too complicated for Oseni to comprehend.
“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.
“When a certificate is generated, and it is approved through a process in the Ministry of Works, it will then be given to the funders, who will, in turn, check if the works were done. How can you be asking for cost of kilometre? The prices are different. The next kilometre is different from the next kilometre.
“Keep quiet and stop saying what you don’t know. I’m a professor in this field. You don’t understand anything. I understand engineering very well. You have no knowledge of what you ask. You have no knowledge of what you’re asking,” the minister said.
Oseni, who refused to back down, said in his reaction, “Minister, it’s alright, keep dignifying yourself, and let the world know who you truly are.”
