Comrade Adolphus Ude, a key ADC figure in Enugu, has criticised Minister of Works Dave Umahi for claiming Igbos are content with Tinubu’s governance.
Ude called Umahi an ‘efulefu’ for shortchanging Ndigbo.
Contradicting Umahi, Ude, a former APC deputy chairman in Enugu and ADC coordinator, maintained that Igbo marginalisation persists under Tinubu.
It would be recalled that Umahi recently linked Biafra agitation to Igbo marginalisation during a visit to Southeast projects, claiming that gbos are well integrated and comfortable with Tinubu.
Ude maintained that Umahi’s remarks are misleading, selfish, and unreflective of Southeast sentiment, asserting that marginalisation has worsened since Tinubu took office on May 29, 2023, especially in federal projects and appointments.
While emphasising support for a united Nigeria and opposing secession, Ude rejected Umahi’s claim that Igbos are happy with Tinubu’s governance.
“Which of the long-standing grievances of the South East region has the Tinubu administration addressed? What has the Tinubu government done for the Igbos, different from what successive governments did?
“Which inclusive governance is the ‘efulefu’ Minister talking about when the entire South East was excluded from the two outrageously priced signature road infrastructure projects of the Tinubu administration – the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Highway – both awarded to the controversial Hitech Construction Company Limited?”
Speaking further, Ude lamented that none of these multi-trillion Naira signature road projects of the Tinubu administration passed through any of the five South East states—Abia, Anambra, Enugu, Imo, and Ebonyi—even as an ordinary bypass.
He regretted that none of the ongoing federal road projects in the South East inherited by the Tinubu administration two and a half years ago has been completed, emphasising that work has been very slow on the Enugu-Port Harcourt, the Owerri-Onitsha expressway, and Enugu-Onitsha expressway.
“In January 2024, Umahi told us that the Federal Government had commenced the Ninth Mile-Enugu-Makurdi Highway. Almost two years after, the Enugu-Axis, which is within the South East remains in a decrepit state.
“Umahi claimed that these concrete roads when completed, will last 50-100 years. Whether they will last forever or not, let him complete them first before talking about how long the roads will last.”
Ude also drew attention to a headline in the media a few months ago that the Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved projects worth about N3.9 trillion to Lagos State alone in two years and consequently, challenged Umahi to say the monetary worth of the ongoing federal road infrastructure projects in the entire South East, to buttress the inclusion of the Igbos by the Tinubu administration.
He cautioned the Works Minister against making unguarded utterances that could be detrimental to Igbo interest now and in future, adding that no wise politician plays politics with the destiny of his own people.
The ADC chieftain noted that without equity, fairness and justice in the allocation of infrastructure, Nigeria cannot have a balanced development, short of which there would be no peace and progress, and people would continue to engage in one form of agitation or the other.
“Ogun state alone has four ministerial positions, one shy of the five ministerial positions given to the entire South-East region by the Tinubu administration, just as the region was marginalized in the appointment of heads of major parastatals and agencies,” he stated.
