South East now connected to the centre

Says President treats Ndigbo fairly

By Emmanuel Uzor, Awka

Works Minister David Umahi has said the South East zone is fully connected to the mainstream politics of Nigeria and is currently benefiting from the developmental strides of President Bola Tinubu.

Umahi was reacting to a statement credited to Linus Anagboso, alleging that President Tinubu has left Ndigbo behind in the area of federal road infrastructure and appointments.

The statement from Umahi reads in part: “My attention 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?’

“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 Mr President is doing all over the nation.

“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. Mr President is using fair distribution of infrastructure to reunite Nigerians and renew their hope, and only those who open their eyes will see the light of change in Nigeria.

Umahi further disclosed that the President has four Legacy Projects, which cover the six geopolitical zones, with the South East region well captured within the third Legacy Project of Cross River-Ebonyi-Benue-Kogi-Nasarawa-Abuja, totalling 465km x 2, with the South East covering 231.64km x 2 and 231.64km x 1 for ₦445.8 billion, already awarded and work is going on.

“Mr President has already paid ₦108 billion. What happened in the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of Thursday, July 31, 2025, was a review of that corridor from 118km x 1 to 231.64km x 1 for ₦445.8 billion. This misleading writer chose to change the narrative of my press briefing after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) of Trans Sahara Section 1 (Ebonyi State to Benue border – 123.64km at ₦445.8 billion) but deliberately chose to call it Oyo-Benue border road to deceive and incite unsuspecting members of the public. I demand that he corrects the information immediately, even if he fails to apologise.

“Where was the writer when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu decided to treat the South East fairly in road infrastructure like other regions? Under his administration, 90% 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 ₦146 billion, and 2B in Anambra State, which is valued at ₦176 billion; the Enugu-Onitsha road – 208km (MTN Tax Credit, which is valued at ₦202 billion, and CBC completing the remaining section at ₦150 billion, of which ₦45 billion 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.