Bob Emeka 
The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has chided the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, for being edgy about disclosing the cost analysis of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project, which is unilaterally awarded by President Bola Tinubu, who bypassed National Assembly oversight and approval.
Speaking on Arise Television on Tuesday, Oseni asked Umahi to analyse the cost of the project, kilometre by kilometre.
However, Umahi, who declared himself “professor” of practice in engineering, elaborated that the costs of the road in kilometres are not the same and would be too complex for the journalist to grasp.
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.
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“How can you be asking for the cost per 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.”
Reacting to the heated exchange that unfolded live on television between Umahi and Oseni while speaking at an event in a viral video on Friday, Makinde said it was unnecessary for the Minister to be “Dancing around the cost” of the project.
Makinde said, “They asked a minister how much 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, the average cost is about N238 million per kilometre.
“But when we did Iseyin to Ogbomoso, that was 76 kilometres, it was about N43 billion, the average cost is about N500 million per kilometre. And we had two bridges, one over the Ogun river and then one at Ogbomoso end.”
