Umahi Orders Repairs On Lafia-Makurdi Road After Flood Halted Tinubu’s Convoy
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has ordered the immediate deployment of ministry officials and engineers from China Harbour Operations and Maintenance Company to restore and find a lasting solution to persistent flooding on the Abuja-Keffi-Akwanga-Lafia-Makurdi road.
The directive followed torrential rains that disrupted traffic and forced President Bola Tinubu to cancel his visit to Yelwata, Benue State.
OSUN DEFENDER reports that Tinubu was in Makurdi, capital of Benue state, on Wednesday, but he couldn’t get to Yelwata, the town where over 200 people were killed last Friday, as his convoy was halted by a flood that rendered the road impassable.
Umahi, who described the incident as “embarrassing,” blamed the private concessionaire in charge of the tolled road under the Highway Development and Management Initiative for failing to maintain the carriageway, despite collecting revenue.
The Minister, in a statement signed by his Special Adviser, Orji Uchenna, on Friday, added, “We have got information on the unfortunate flooding of a section of Keffi-Makurdi road, which is under HDMI, that is, a PPP with China Harbour.
“We know that the project has been completed and it is tolled, but unfortunately, yesterday there was a lot of debris that covered an existing culvert, and that led to flooding.
“We apologise very profusely to Mr President and Nigerians for the embarrassment this unfortunate incident caused. The Keffi-Makurdi road is a Public-Private Partnership with China Harbour under the HDMI initiative. Though completed and tolled, flooding occurred due to debris blocking the culvert.”
“In the midst of the rain, we deployed our officials and the concessionaire’s personnel who evacuated the debris, allowing floodwaters to drain. That section of the road has now been reinstated,” he noted.
The minister further directed the company to investigate the cause of the flooding and implement a permanent fix to prevent future disruptions, stressing that such lapses would no longer be tolerated on federal roads maintained by private operators.
Olamilekan Adigun is a graduate of Mass Communication with years of experience in journalism embedded in uncovering human interest stories. He also prioritises accuracy and factual reportage of issues.
