Federal Ministry of Works

Aug

2026

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“THE WORST IS OVER; OUR GDP IS GROWING MORE THAN OUR POPULATION. THAT MEANS WE HAVE A FUTURE” - UMAHI TELLS NANS

— As Nigerian Students Induct Him as Grand Patron, Hail Him as “One of the Finest” in Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Cabinet

The Minister of Works, Senator Engr. David Umahi, CON, has declared that Nigeria is now seeing stronger economic outlook under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, noting that the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is now growing faster than its population.

Umahi made the declaration on Monday, August 10, 2026, at the headquarters of the Federal Ministry of Works in Abuja, while speaking after he was formally inducted as Patron of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS).

The minister described the development as a positive indication of Nigeria’s economic prospects, saying, “I was enthused to find out that our GDP is growing more than our population. That means we have a future.”

The NANS leadership, led by its President, Dist. Comr. Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, GCNS, had earlier commended Umahi for his contributions to national infrastructure and described him as “a worthy member of the Renewed Hope Cabinet and, indeed, as one of the finest public servants Nigeria has produced in the contemporary era.”

The students said the recognition was not merely ceremonial but a reflection of Umahi’s visible contribution to road infrastructure and national development under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

According to NANS, the roads and bridges being delivered under Umahi’s supervision are directly connected to the lives of Nigerian students, affecting their mobility, access to educational institutions, examinations, internships, businesses and employment opportunities.

The students specifically cited major projects including the Abuja-Kaduna-Kano Expressway, Abuja-Kaduna-Minna route, Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway and Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as examples of projects they said demonstrate the Federal Government’s commitment to improving national connectivity.

Afeez also disclosed that NANS had studied project reports of the Federal Ministry of Works covering the period between May 2023 and May 2026 and expressed its intention to embark on nationwide project tours to inspect completed and rehabilitated projects.

He said the students would use their platforms to communicate the impact of the projects to millions of Nigerian students, Nigerians and the wider world.

Responding, Umahi challenged Nigerian students and young people to look beyond political sentiments and examine the policies and achievements of the Tinubu administration objectively.

“We have had somebody say, ‘President Tinubu is tired.’ How do you know he is tired? I am part of President Tinubu. The Minister of Interior, the FCT, all the ministers and all the SSAs are vibrant and working. So how do you just jump at that conclusion?”

The minister urged Nigerians to demand concrete alternatives from those criticising the administration.

“If you say that the President is not doing well, what is your alternative?” he asked, stressing that political promises must be backed by clear plans and a credible mission.

He also called on students and other young Nigerians to take a position on issues affecting the country, arguing that remaining neutral in the face of visible progress was not always the right approach.

“You may say that you are not politicians or that you will not take sides, but this is the time to take sides in our national affairs. It is time to take a stand,” Umahi said.

On the economy, the minister acknowledged that the macroeconomy was only beginning to recover but urged Nigerians to consider the condition of the economy before the present administration took office and assess the reforms objectively.

“You may say that the macroeconomy is just beginning to recover. What was it like before the President took over? Everybody agrees that the macroeconomy is being fixed. It is up to you to dissect the ongoing reforms and take a position.”

Umahi also pointed to developments in the education sector, saying the stability being witnessed under the Tinubu administration had created an environment in which students were able to continue their studies without the disruption of nationwide strikes.

“For the first time, students never went on strike. Never. Look at the stability of Nigeria. That has never happened throughout the history of this country.”

“Where is the subsidy money?” Umahi explains

Addressing questions surrounding the removal of fuel subsidy and where the resulting resources were being deployed, Umahi pointed to the scale of ongoing infrastructure projects across the country.

He cited the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano road, which he said covers 375 kilometres and, when measured as a dual carriageway, amounts to 750 kilometres.

According to the minister, more than ₦200 billion has already been spent on the project, with 480 kilometres of the dual carriageway completed and further sections nearing completion.

“For the first time, we have been able to complete 118 kilometres of concrete pavement within 30 months. That has never happened,” he said.

The Minister said the remaining works were expected to be completed by November, noting that the two projects on the route have a combined cost of ₦752 billion, with more than 80 percent already paid.

He also highlighted the Sokoto-Zamfara-Zaria corridor, the Benue-Ninth Mile road, and the Bodo - Bonny Island road as examples of projects receiving significant attention under the Tinubu administration.

On the Bonny Island project, he said:

“For the first time, people will move from the island to the mainland in Bonny Island, where the LNG is produced. A project costing ₦280 billion under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been completed. The 39.7-kilometre road is fully done, and the people of Bonny are very happy. They are no longer dying at sea. They are now driving through the land.”

The minister also spoke extensively about the administration’s legacy road projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the expanded Northeast Fourth Legacy Project.

He disclosed that the Northeast project, originally running from Akwanga through Jos, Bauchi, Gombe and Biu, had been extended through Yobe to Maiduguri, adding another 400 kilometres to the project.

Umahi defended the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway against criticisms, saying the project was strategically important to the Niger Delta and would be completed.

“I do not know why people are attacking the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway. After all, this is coming from the Niger Delta, where the oil is coming from. Why is nobody attacking the other three Legacy Projects, but this one is being attacked? That is unfair and unrealistic. That project will be completed. In fact, over 50 percent of the entire stretch is already under construction.”

The minister also used the occasion to speak about the development of the Southeast, saying President Tinubu had deliberately embarked on projects aimed at integrating the region into the national infrastructure network.

“The Southeast, for the first time, is being remembered, and I thank the people in the Southeast because sometimes I say, ‘Listen, our people should not be sentimental.’”

He said the administration’s approach to the region was intentional and urged the people of the Southeast to work with other parts of the country.

“The President has a good intention to integrate the people of the Southeast, and I have to be very honest with you. If I were not a minister from the Southeast, we would not have been able to get the projects we have secured. It is intentional on the part of Mr. President. Go and right the wrongs of the Southeast.”

Umahi cited the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway and Enugu-Port Harcourt Expressway among the major projects transforming connectivity in the region.

He also disclosed that President Tinubu had approved the re-scoping and reconstruction of the Lokoja-Benin-Warri corridor, covering a total of 401 kilometres.

The minister was particularly direct in urging the students to support President Tinubu in the 2027 election, arguing that Nigerians should support the administration if they believe its policies are producing results.

“I want you to take a side. If you say you are on the list of a coalition and you say that what we are doing is good, then we have to take a stand to vote for the President in the coming election.”
“Let him finish. Let him take back our country. Let him reposition our country.”

Umahi also urged Nigerians to look beyond political rhetoric and focus on practical solutions to the country’s challenges.

“Listening to others should not mean allowing yourselves to be insulted or blackmailed. Cheap talk will not solve our problems. Nobody is saying what he or she can do differently. The worst is over. The darkest part of the night is an hour before dawn.”

He pointed to the decline in food prices as one of the developments Nigerians should consider in assessing the economy, recalling that a 50-kilogramme bag of rice, which he said had risen above ₦80,000 and at some point reached ₦100,000, was now selling at about ₦58,000.

Umahi also stressed the administration’s commitment to transparency in the execution of road projects, saying the Ministry of Works had opened its projects to scrutiny by anti-corruption agencies.

“Now, why are we doing this? Transparency. We have turned these projects over to the ICPC. They have gone round. We are ready for constructive criticism, and where necessary, we will make amends.”

He added that the Ministry had also written to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to inspect its projects. “We have nothing to hide in this administration.”

The minister urged NANS to organise a major student engagement across the geopolitical zones where students could ask questions directly and hear the government’s explanations on its policies and projects.

“Let me defend this administration. Organise it and let me come. Move students from across the zone to a central point where we can talk to them and address their concerns. We have to deliberate on the issues. We have to debate them. Ask your questions, and we will answer them.”

He said he would attend such engagements with some ministers and Senior Special Assistants to the President, stressing that students were important stakeholders in the country’s future.

Umahi further challenged young Nigerians to take responsibility for protecting public infrastructure and contributing positively to national development. “See something, say something. Together, we can take back our country because it belongs to us.”

He said the responsibility for the performance of government should be placed on the officials directly responsible for specific sectors, rather than on the President for every operational issue.

“I am here because the President gave me the responsibility to be in charge of roads and bridges. If I do not do it, I should be the one to be blamed, not the President. I am not the President. The President has divided himself into a number of his appointees. These appointees should be the ones to answer and take responsibility.”

The minister concluded by thanking the students for the recognition and expressing his readiness to deepen collaboration with NANS.

“I want to thank you very much.“

He described the students as important partners in the national development process and encouraged them to remain informed, ask questions and hold leaders accountable.

The NANS President, in his address, said the association considered Umahi worthy of its patronage because of his record of public service, infrastructure delivery and commitment to national development.

He said the roads being constructed under Umahi’s leadership would outlive the present administration and continue to serve generations of Nigerians.

“History will not remember public officers merely because they occupied important offices. History will remember them for what they built, what they changed and the lives they touched.”

Afeez formally welcomed Umahi into the NANS family as Patron, describing the partnership between the student body and the Federal Ministry of Works as an opportunity to bring government projects closer to young Nigerians and deepen informed national discourse.

Jul

2018

Third Mainland Bridge To Be Shut For Three Days For Assessment * Three-day closure begins from July 27 while repairs begin after report of assessment is received to determine extent of deterioration * “We will try to reduce the period of closure as much as possible. But this is ultimately a choice between peoples’ safety”, says Fashola * “There was a signed statement from my office and it did not contain 27 months”, he maintains The Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos will be closed to traffic for three days from July 27, 2018, for investigative work to be conducted to assess the current condition of the Bridge, the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola SAN, has explained in Abuja. Fashola, who spoke, Monday, as Guest on the Channels Television breakfast programme, Sunrise Daily in the Federal Capital Territory, said the shutdown was necessary in order to ascertain whether there had been any material deterioration between the period the first procurement for maintenance of the Bridge was approved and now adding that the three days would be used “to really do an examination just to be sure that there has been no material deterioration beyond what we procured”. The Minister, who debunked the misreporting in some sections of the media that the Bridge would be closed for 27 months, declared, “The first message we sent out was that it was going to be closed for three days from the 27th of July”, adding that the duration of maintenance would only be determined after the report of the investigative work has been received and extent of deterioration known. He said the investigation would have been carried out earlier but the need to reduce the inconveniences that would accompany the closure compelled government to shift the time to a more convenient period when children would be on vacation and when fewer vehicles were likely to be on the Bridge. “We thought that if we allowed the children to go on vacation first it would reduce the number of vehicles that needed necessarily to be on the road and ultimately reduce the amount of inconvenience. But now we are torn between maintenance and safety and peoples’ convenience”, Fashola said adding, “Essentially the first three days at the end of this month, as issued in our Press Statement, is for investigative work to be conducted to assess the current condition”. The Minister, who said it was only after the assessment of the amount of maintenance work involved that government engineers and the contracting firms would lay out the plan of work, added, “I think it is later in the year or early next year that the repairs will then start”, pointing out that some of the equipment and materials have to be imported. Noting that the repairs would “imminently compel some closure”, Fashola, who recalled that the Bridge had been closed for repairs in the past when he was Governor, pointed out that it was shut down for 12 weeks, adding, “We will try to reduce the period of closure as much as possible. But this is ultimately a choice between peoples’ safety; that bridge must not collapse and it needs maintenance”. “It has been built now going up to a period of 30 years and if you recall, the maintenance that was done at that time was not completed because the budget was cut and that was why they did it in phases. So we are back to what we should have done before. It is costing more but it needs to be done”, he said. Reiterating that he was currently not in the position to say how long the maintenance would last until the receipt of the report from the investigation and the amount of damage determined, declared, “For now, the first three days is what I can speak of and it is when we get the report and determine the extent of damage that we will now come back to the public and tell them and say definitively how long it will be”. “I am not in the position to say it now until that report comes back to us. But what will happen at the end of July is three days”, he said, adding that those peddling the 27 months rumour about the duration of repairs might have mistaken the “July 27th” date mentioned in the government Press Statement for 27 months. “There was a signed statement from my office and it did not contain 27 months”, he said. Fashola, who admonished the Media, both traditional and social, to endeavour to be more accurate in their reportage especially of such sensitive issues, expressed regrets that many of the nation’s public assets have remained unmaintained for decades citing the Ijora Bridge which he recalled collapsed some time ago due to lack of maintenance after 40 years plus. ...

Jul

2018

Housing Is A Catalyst For Development And Sustainable Economic Growth Says Fashola The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has said that the present Administration has taken leadership role by demonstrating how provision of affordable housing can catalyze development and sustainable economic growth in Nigeria. Fashola explained that President Buhari has used the National Housing Programme (NHP), presently active in 34 States of the federation in the last three years, as one of the tools to grow the economy and extricate the nation from recession. According to him, ‘’we are able to employ, on the average, a thousand people at each of the 34 NHP sites, and this is only for the pilot stage’’. The Minister stated this at the recently concluded 7th Meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development held at the Banquet Hall, Gombe International Hotel, Gombe State with the theme ‘Provision of Affordable Housing: A Catalyst for Development and Sustainable Economic Growth’. Speaking at the Council, Fashola urged Policy Makers and government at all levels to make efforts in consolidating on the achievements of the present government by building more houses and also proffer policies to address urbanization. He said that one of such policies is to consciously redistribute wealth and opportunities by strong commitments to programs like Agriculture and Mining. The Minister stated that from his trips across the nation, ‘’I can tell you categorically that President Buhari’s investment in infrastructural development is impacting on the nations urbanization challenge in a positive way’’. In his remarks, the Special Guest of Honour and the Host Governor, the Executive Governor of Gombe State, H.E. Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, commended the Ministry for choosing Gombe State as host, assuring that the Council meeting was bound to address the challenges facing Land Administration, Housing and Urban Development to enable the sector contribute meaningfully to the socio-economic development of the nation. Dankwambo stated that access to quality and affordable housing is not only fundamental to the health and well being of families and communities, but critical to human survival. He urged Government at all levels to work assiduously in ensuring provision of affordable housing, particularly for the low and modest income earners in the country. While he commended the efforts of the Federal Government in the construction of mass housing under the National Housing Programme (NHP), stating that the state government has also consolidated on these gains with the construction of over 1, 000 housing units, fully completed and allocated to civil servants and the general public in the state. Earlier, while addressing the meeting of the Permanent Secretaries at the state level and other stakeholders, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, (Works & Housing) Mohammed Bukar, said that the provision of affordable housing rest on the shoulders of all stakeholders in the industry, adding that ‘it is a collective duty to provide leadership for achieving the set objective’. Bukar enjoined all stakeholders to make judicious use of the opportunity provided by the 7th Meeting of the National Council on Lands, Housing and Urban Development to deliberate on the memoranda submitted for consideration towards formulating and strengthening policies that will address the challenges in the built environment and making housing affordable to all Nigerians. In her goodwill message, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winfred Oyo-Ita, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare, Mrs Didi Walson Jack, stated that the Council meeting is an auspicious moment bringing together key stakeholders in the housing sector to deliberate on policy issues geared towards the full delivery of mass housing. She commended the ministry for initiating and promoting the discuss on affordable housing in Nigeria According to her, the Federal Executive Council in consideration of the need to reposition the civil service for greater productivity approved the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, adding that one of the 8 goals of the Plan is to enhance the value reposition of Civil Servants via improving their access to affordable housing. She stressed that this initiative led to the creation of the Federal Integrated Staff Housing (FISH) programme by the Head of Service, which has assisted over 35, 000 civil servants to acquire homes through the provision of mortgage with a long term repayment plan. The Council meeting ended with the issuance of a Communiqué unanimously agreed by all stakeholders to chat the way forward and also formulate a holistic Housing Policy for development and sustainable economic growth in Nigeria. A total number of Thirty-four (34) memoranda were received and considered under the following four thematic groups: i. Policy, Finance, Capacity Building for Affordable Housing Delivery; ii. Building Consideration and Institutional Strengthening for Affordable Housing Provision; iii. Urban Planning Provision for Affordable Housing; and iv. Lands and Infrastructure Consideration for Affordable Housing. ...

Jul

2018

FEC Approves Reconstruction Of Roads In The Country The Federal Executive Council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday approved N35.6billion for reconstruction of roads and bridge in the country. The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, disclosed this when he briefed State House correspondents at the end of the Council’s meeting held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The Minister said N8.9 billion of the amount was approved for construction of Ikom bridge and road in Calabar, Cross River. According to him, the road and bridge has a completion period of 24 months and when completed, will create access to the port for trailers to move freely with their containers. The Minister said that N11.78 billion was approved for Nguru –Gashua – Balmari road in Yobe State, while N8.6 billion was approved for Ilorin – Kishi road in Kwara State. He said the Council also approved N5.4 billion for another road project in Abia State, He disclosed that N933 million was also approved for automatic meter reading equipment for Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN). “The other project that was approved relates to power and this is the approval to procure at the request of the TCN an automatic meter reading machine and services – that will include the installation of equipment and also the training of engineers, auditors, IT engineers who will operate and maintain the system. “The total installation period is 18 months, supply and installation,’’ he said. According to Fashola, the wholesale meters are different from the retail meters, saying that smooth implementation of the wholesale meters would help in dispute resolution as data can be easily produced online and eliminate all delays in the system. The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who fielded a question on the controversy surrounding NYSC exemption certificate of the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, said the federal government had already responded to the allegation via statement from the NYSC. He said: “The government has spoken. NYSC is part of government and I have nothing to add to what the NYSC has said.’’ ...