…Umahi apologises to Nigerians, takes responsibilities for the unethical closure of third mainland bridge
By Seun Adams
Even as the sexual harassment firestorm and allegations that has rocked the red chamber of the National Assembly by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against Senator Godswill Akpabio, is yet to die-down, in another dimension which though dates backs to 2014, the Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, has threatened legal action against one Ms. Tracy Nicola Ohiri, a self-styled businesswoman who has raised of sexual harassment allegation among other issues that made the rounds on social media.
In an outburst via in a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Barr. Orji Uchenna Orji, said the response is directed to the allegations and threats of one woman on social media who gave her name as Tracynither Nicolas Ohiri, and who claimed to be a business woman and purportedly supplied campaign materials to him (Umahi) during his Governorship campaign in 2014.
The Minister, according to Orji has dismissed the allegations and accusations by the woman as absolutely unfounded, pretentiously orchestrated and politically masterminded by detractors to ingloriously sully his reputation for selfish motives.
The statement said: “He challenged the woman to show proof of such transaction, noting that the accusation of sexual harassment is ridiculous as such baseless and substance-less accusations have become a stock in trade of some women who are desperate to bring down the good name of perceived enemies for unpatriotic gains.
“He said that a legal redress is underway to serve as a deterrence to others.”
In the meantime, the Minister of Works, has restated the unwavering commitment of the Renewed Hope administration of the President Bola Tinubu, towards ensuring compliance with the best construction methodologies, techniques and processes in all federal road construction projects across the 6 Geo-Political Zones to achieve optimal delivery with minimal inconvenience to road users.
The Minister made this declaration when he visited Independence Bridge Lagos on Thursday, less than 24 hours after the ugly experience of gridlock by Lagosians on the bridge under rehabilitation.
Umahi, expressed displeasure of President over the hardship occasioned on Nigerians by the reason of the sudden closure of the bridge for emergency works, adding that the President frowned at the method of closure adopted by the Federal Controller of Works in charge of Lagos which fell short of the standing practice of the Ministry but he accepted responsibility and apologized for the inconveniences the closure has caused the road users.
He said, “The President saw the hardship occasioned on Nigerians by reason of the sudden closure of this Independence Bridge for emergency rehabilitation.” He noted, “Even though I didn’t give the approval, I’m aware of it.
“We did the design, and we agreed for the rehabilitation to be done.
However, he admitted that before a bridge is closed in Lagos, usually I was always contacted, and I was always giving approval. And normally, I would come down to Lagos, and then with the Lagos State Government, we would agree on alternative routes.
“We would announce it for more than two weeks, and then we deploy the right engineering method statement to do that. And so this time around, we didn’t go through that process, and that’s why we had this hardship. So Mr. President directed I should come down to Lagos and stay here until this problem is solved.
“I’m not going until the bridge is fully restored. We will work day and night to restore it, and then we all together to evaluate it. And so again and again, I thank Lagos State Government.
“I thank Lagosians for their patience. And I apologize again and again, first to my boss, Mr. President, that this hardship caused Lagosians is not the intention, but we meant well.”
The Minister admonished all Federal Controllers of Works to heed to the construction standards and never to close road without approval first sought and obtained from the Minister of Works.
While giving insight into the massive construction works going on under the Renewed Hope administration, he stated over 260 critical federal road projects are going on nationwide stimulating sustainable economic growth through aggressive road infrastructure development, and for this he thanked Mr. President immensely.
“I want to use this opportunity to say that no Controller of Works and no engineer in the Ministry of Works should close the road or close any bridge without getting permission through the permanent secretary to me.” He said.
