The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said President Bola Tinubu is having sleepless nights as a result of the bad state of the economy he inherited from his predecessor.
He said Nigerians must, therefore, be responsible in the use of public infrastructure that the government was struggling to put in place.
Umahi spoke at the weekend in Aba, Abia State while inspecting the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway.
He fumed at the activities of street traders on the completed section of the road in Abia State, noting that he would advise Governor Alex Otti to set up a task force to arrest and prosecute the street traders.
The minister said, “While Mr President is having sleepless nights on how to solve the problems of a very bad inherited economy, Nigerians should support him and also support themselves. We wouldn’t like a situation where after the Federal Government had spent so much here, we see people building and trading on the road.
“It appears the people here like to inflict injuries on themselves. They can’t even allow the contractor to work. They drive against traffic and use the completed road as car parks, trading and dumping of refuse. The whole of refuse generated in Aba is being dumped on this road. It is not encouraging at all!
“The only way out for this work to be completed is for the governor to set up a task force and clear the road and I will advise the governor to set up a task force here. The citizens of this country will need to do their bit, while leadership also does its own. That is the only way it will work.”
Fielding questions from newsmen, the works minister, however, expressed his satisfaction with the job done by the contractor, stating that the project, which was first awarded about 10 years ago, had yet to be completed because of the high cost of construction materials.
“When I came on board in August 2023, bitumen was N500,000 per tonne, but today it’s about N1.3m per tonne and that is why we are asking, can we go for concrete that is almost about 95 per cent sourced locally?”
Earlier, the Federal Controller of Works in Abia, Tony Onwubiko, said the project covered about 57km from Abia Tower in Umuahia to the Railway Crossing at Alaoji in the Osisioma Local Government Area.
The minister also inspected the NNPC Mega Filling Station at Nkwoegwu at the Umuahia section of the Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway, near Abia Tower of Peace, where he expressed his happiness with the work done by Setraco Nigeria Limited, and urged the company to correct some errors he detected.
