The Digest:
Minister of Works David Umahi and Senator Adams Oshiomhole engaged in a heated exchange during the Senate budget defence session on Wednesday, with tensions flaring over scrutiny of the N15 trillion Lagos-Calabar coastal highway project. The confrontation, which involved both APC chieftains, saw Umahi accuse Oshiomhole of using "foul language" and disrespect. Oshiomhole retorted that Umahi was "not entitled to interrupt" him, while other senators sided with the former labour leader, with one legislator derisively noting Umahi's brief two-month tenure in the Senate. The committee chairman intervened to restore decorum. Oshiomhole later commended President Tinubu for ending NNPC's tax credit funding model for roads, citing transparency concerns, while Umahi attributed project delays to the finance minister's failure to release allocated funds.
Key Points:
- The public clash exposes internal tensions within the ruling party over scrutiny of high-profile infrastructure spending.
- It raises questions about oversight effectiveness and executive-legislature relations in budget defence sessions.
- Both principals suffer reputational risk, while the N15trn project attracts intensified public and legislative scrutiny.
- The exchange underscores the sensitivity of the coastal highway, Nigeria's most expensive infrastructure project.
- The timing, during budget defence, amplifies the high stakes and frayed tempers around the record appropriation.
Sources: TheCable, Senate Budget Defence Session
