Politics

Why Tinubu Was Absent At Debate – APC Campaign Council

Published

3 years ago

November 7, 2022

The All Progressives Congress Campaign Council on Sunday night justified the absence of its presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, saying the debate clashed with his engagements.

The campaign council’s clarification is coming in the wake of Tinubu’s absence at a live presidential debate held at Transcorp Hilton in Abuja.

Tinubu’s counterpart in the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, who was said to be on his way from Morocco, was, however, represented by his running mate, Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State.

The PUNCH reported that a pro-democracy think tank, the Centre for Democracy and Development, had invited the four leading presidential candidates in the 2023 elections to speak on their plans for the country.

The debate, which was aired live on Arise Television, was meant to allow Nigerians to ascertain which candidate and political party possessed the best ideas for bringing lasting solutions to the country’s challenges.

When contacted, the Director of Media and Communications, Bayo Onanuga, told our correspondent in an exclusive phone chat that the debate clashed with Tinubu’s campaign town hall meeting with agro-farmers in Minna, Niger State capital.

Onanuga made reference to the APC presidential campaign calendar to justify his position.

He said, “We are in Minna now for engagement with farmers and agro-commodities groups ahead of tomorrow. The media cannot suddenly come up with a debate and wants us to drop everything we are doing to attend it. It is wrong. We also have our campaign schedule to attend to.”

When reminded that the presidential candidate could still have shown up since the engagement in question is slated for Monday, Onanuga disagreed.

“Are we going to use jet to travel to Minna? As I earlier told you, we are in Minna already and cannot make it to the programme. In our own case, their proposal clashes with the campaign programme of our candidate. That’s why we didn’t turn up,” he stated.

Asked if Tinubu would have turned up at the debate if the Minna engagement has not been fixed, the campaign media director stated that there was a likelihood he might.

He said, “Maybe. But he is busy with some other things and he cannot leave that one for this. There are more important things.

“After Minna, we are returning to Abuja before the next engagement in Nasarawa State on Wednesday. After then, I think Calabar is up for Saturday. You can see that this week is a very busy one for the candidate.

“Again, next week, we will be in Imo State on Tuesday for a rally and zonal stakeholders meeting. It is not on Monday as some people erroneously reported. The earlier schedule people saw was just a draft, which is still subject to amendment.”

The presidential campaign calendar, which was revised again on Friday, shows that aside from the town hall meeting with agro-farmers on Monday, Tinubu will have a dinner with his campaign patrons in Abuja on Tuesday while another town hall meeting on interfaith stakeholders will hold in Nasarawa on Wednesday.

PUNCH

Politics

Umahi Fires Back At Makinde Over Lagos-Calabar Highway Cost

Published

3 hours ago

October 11, 2025

Editor

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has fired back at Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, over his recent comments questioning the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, insisting that the governor misunderstood the technical details of road construction and cost evaluation.

Speaking during an inspection tour of the Keffi Bridge and the Nasarawa–Toto Road projects, alongside the state governor, Abdullahi Sule, on Saturday, Umahi said the cost of the highway had been carefully computed in line with global engineering standards and should not be reduced to “political soundbites.”

Governor Makinde had queried the minister’s estimated figures on the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which is one of the signature infrastructure projects of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

Makinde, who spoke at an event in a viral video on Friday, said there was no need for the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to be “dancing around the cost” of the project.

He said, “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.

Responding to the inspection tour, the former Ebonyi governor described Makinde as “a brother and friend” but said it was improper for him to publicly accuse him of “dancing around” figures.

“I heard that my brother and friend, Governor Makinde of Oyo state, said something about the cost per kilometre. I don’t want to join issues with him. I think he is an engineer, I think he is an electrician, they call it ‘elect-elect’. But this road construction matter, ‘elect-elect no reach there’,” Umahi said.

He continued, “I am his senior both in governance and in engineering practice. So, anything he doesn’t understand, he should call me and ask. 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.”

Defending the project further, Umahi explained that there was no ambiguity in determining the cost per kilometre, stressing that it must be understood in both estimated and average terms.

“There is no ambiguity in cost per kilometre,” he said. “I am teaching them that cost per kilometre can be divided into estimated cost, which has elements of variance, and average cost, which is definitive. The average cost of a definitive project and the estimated cost are probable elements.”

He explained that the estimated cost includes allowances for contingencies and variation of price, which may not eventually be utilised.

“When the project is completed, and you remove what you didn’t use, such as contingencies and VOP, then you have your actual cost,” he added.

Umahi expressed amusement that some critics had resorted to asking Artificial Intelligence to explain the difference between estimated and average cost, only for the AI’s response to align with his explanation.

“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,” the minister quipped.

He also cited the National Universities Commission’s clarification on who qualifies as a professor, noting that practical experience in the field also counts as expertise.

“I’m happy that the NUC programme on who is a professor also made me right. You can become a professor by the reason of your practice. And I think God has made me one when it comes to practical, field engineering programmes, that’s what it is; you can’t take it back,” Umahi said.

Politics

Enugu Gov Mbah Set to Dump PDP

Published

1 day ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah is set to dump the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, next week.

National Chairman and Deputy National Chairman, South-East, of the APC, Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda and Emma Eneukwu, respectively, broke the news in Abuja on Friday.

The APC national leadership revealed Mbah’s imminent defection to the ruling party while swearing in the newly inaugurated members of the Enugu State caretaker committee, led by former state chairman, Ben Nwoye, at the party’s national headquarters in Abuja.

The governor is expected to announce his defection at an event schedule to hold in the state next week.

Chairman of the newly inaugurated caretaker committee, Nwoye, who confirmed the development, said the governor will join the ruling party alongside all his appointees.

There are speculations that Taraba State Governor, Agbu Kefas, is also set to join APC.

Politics

Makinde Calls Out Umahi Over Coastal Highway Cost Analysis

Published

2 days ago

October 10, 2025

Editor

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has weighed in on the cost of the controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project that was approved by President Bola Tinubu.

Makinde, who spoke at an event in a viral video on Friday, said there was no need for the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to be “dancing around the cost” of the project.

The governor was reacting to a heated exchange that unfolded live on television between Umahi and Arise TV presenter Rufai Oseni on Tuesday.

Oseni had requested the minister to analyse the cost of the project, kilometre by kilometre.

The request didn’t sit well with Umahi, who declared himself “professor” of practice in engineering while elaborating that the costs of the road in kilometres are not the same and would be too complicated for the journalist to understand.

He said, “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.”

Oseni, who also refused to back down, responded, “Minister, it’s alright, keep dignifying yourself, and let the world know who you truly are.”

However, justifying the journalist’s question to the minister, Makinde said, “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.”

The PUNCH reports that last year, the Federal Government announced the commencement of construction work on the 700km Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which spans nine states and includes two spurs leading to the northern states.

Umahi made the announcement during the official handover of the first phase of the project, made up of 47.47 kilometers of dual carriageway, to Hitech Construction Company Limited, and which is to be constructed in concrete pavement.

This was contained in a statement issued by his Special Adviser (Media), Uchenna Orji.

According to him, the Minister who was in company with the Federal Ministry of Works’ Controller in charge of Lagos State, Mrs O. I. Kesha, emphasised the need for all contractors handling Federal Government’s road projects to deliver within a record time, noting that the government would not allow variation arising from delays or slow pace of work once mobilisation had been done.