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.
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.