I’ll resign if…… Umahi

I’ll resign if…… Umahi

……Abuja-Kaduna-Kano road project fails quality test – Umahi

By John Ogunsemore

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has promised to resign if the ongoing Abuja–Kaduna–Kano Road project is adjudged to be substandard.

This is as the minister declared his readiness to subject the work to independent testing.

Umahi made the promise when he appeared before a joint session of the National Assembly to defend his ministry’s N3.4 trillion budget proposal of the ministry on Wednesday.

The legislators had sought to know why a section of the project was awarded to a lesser-known company previously associatedl with generator sales.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC/Edo North) asked the minister to explain why the project was taken from an established construction company and awarded to another firm which did not have the former’s pedigree in road construction.

In his response, Umahi downplayed the role of pedigree in achieving quality work, noting that greater focus should be on whether the contractor could do a good job rather than its background.

Umahi said, “I’m just hearing about Maikano for the first time. Whether they are selling goats or cows, they are doing well. I am satisfied with the quality of work on the Abuja–Kaduna stretch, and I challenge you to an inspection. Bring the best of your concrete testers. If you test it and it fails, I will throw in the towel.”

The minister also said asphalt and concrete were both good materials, maintaining that proper supervision would ensure durability of asphalt-based road projects.