By Samuel Olusegun Precious
Controversy has continued to trail the directive by Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, to decorate the rehabilitated First Niger Bridge with pictures of President Bola Tinubu.
Senator Umahi gave the order on Wednesday, September 23, while inspecting ongoing emergency rehabilitation works on the bridge linking Onitsha in Anambra State and Asaba in Delta State.
According to him, all illegal advertisement billboards currently on the bridge must be removed immediately.
He said:”Once we are done with work on this bridge, I want all the illegal adverts on this bridge removed. Anyone who wants to advertise should apply to the Ministry of Works. For now, the bridge will be decorated with the pictures of President Tinubu.The President has worked so hard and we need to reward his hard work by decorating this bridge with his pictures.”
The First Niger Bridge was shut down on September 7 after critical components — bolts, nuts and expansion joints — were discovered to have been vandalised. The closure was initially scheduled to end September 21 but was extended by one week due to heavy rainfall.
Umahi said the bridge will now reopen next week, after new bolts have been replaced and a specialised expansion joint flown in from abroad installed. He also ordered solar lights, CCTV cameras and repainting of the structure. But it was his political remarks that sparked outrage online.
The Minister used the inspection to campaign for Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, urging the South-East not to “waste” their votes on Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC).
“I want to say to Ndigbo that we should not throw away our votes in 2027. In the last election we did not vote for him so well, yet he is bringing projects to our region,” Umahi said.
“I have a bragging right in Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and I’m proud of him. Peter Obi is our brother and we do not hate him, but we need to be realistic this time. I don’t care about people abusing me on social media, they should only tell us what Obi has attracted to the South-East.
“Critics on X (formerly Twitter) described the branding directive as sycophancy and a misuse of public infrastructure for partisan politics, while supporters of the minister argued it was a way to acknowledge Tinubu’s intervention to save the 60-year-old bridge from collapse.The Ministry of Works has not said how much the branding will cost or how long the President’s pictures will remain on the bridge.
