Minister of Works, David Umahi, has claimed that the South-East did not receive any federal project during his previous years in politics until the administration of President Bola Tinubu.
Umahi made the claim on Wednesday during a press briefing in Abuja while speaking about federal projects currently being executed across the region.
The minister said his experience as a former party chairman, deputy governor and governor gave him an opportunity to witness the level of federal government intervention in the South-East before Tinubu became president.
According to him, “I was party chairman, I was deputy governor, I was governor, and no single federal project came to the South-East. And today, we are having a barrage of projects.”
Umahi admitted that the South-East might not have the highest number of federal projects compared with other regions, but said the area was no longer at the bottom.
He said, “We may not be first, second or third in terms of volume of projects across regions, but we are not the last. And if we are not the last, it is something to beat our chest about.”
The minister said the development showed what he described as Tinubu’s deliberate effort to bring the South-East into the country’s development plans.
Umahi also linked his appointment as Minister of Works to the administration’s approach towards the region, noting that no person from the South-East had previously occupied the position.
He said, “Never in the history of this nation has somebody from the South-East become Minister of Works. This is very intentional, because the President has the intention to develop the South-East, and that is what I am doing.”
