Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has shared his views on the analysis of cost of the controversial Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project that was approved by President Bola Tinubu and which was subject of heated confrontation between Arise TV anchor, Rufai Oseni, and Works Minister, Senator Dave Umahi, few days ago.
Speaking at an event in a viral video on Friday, Makinde said it was apparently unnecessary for the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to be “dancing around the cost” of the project per kilometer when he should have given a simple answer to a straightforward question from Oseni.
Justifying the TV anchor’s question, he recalled that when the Oyo to Iseyin road spanning about 34 km was built by his administration, it was about N9.99 billion, almost N10 billion, stressing that the average cost was about N238 million per kilometre.
He added that when the Iseyin to Ogbomoso road was also built which was 76 kilometres, the cost was about N43 billion, with an average cost of about N500 million per kilometre.
The governor was reacting to the heated exchange between Oseni and his guest, Umahi, on a live television programme of the Arise on Tuesday, this week when the TV anchor requested the minister to analyse the cost of the project, kilometre by kilometre.
Umahi didn’t take the request lightly, saying Oseni was asking childish or elementary questions.
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.”
But unyielding Oseni, blurted out: “Minister, it’s alright, keep dignifying yourself, and let the world know who you truly are.”
However, defending the Oseni’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.”
