By Joy Onu
Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, has inaugurated a completed section of the Enugu–Onitsha Expressway, while calling on the people of the Southeast to support Bola Ahmed Tinubu with up to 80 percent of their votes in the 2027 presidential election.
Speaking during the opening ceremony on Thursday, April 2, 2026, Umahi said the road project reflects the Federal Government’s commitment to improving infrastructure across the Southeast under the leadership of President Tinubu.
The minister recalled that the Enugu–Onitsha route, one of the most important highways in the region, had previously been in poor condition, with commuters spending as long as seven hours travelling between the two cities. “The journey of Enugu to Onitsha was taking about seven hours before 2023. The most important road in the Southeast is this road,” he said.
Umahi explained that the project was initially being executed under a tax credit arrangement involving MTN Nigeria and handled by construction firm Reynolds Construction Company (RCC), but progress had stalled before the intervention of President Tinubu.
According to him, the President not only accelerated the construction process but also directed that at least half of the road be built using reinforced concrete, similar to the standard adopted for the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway.
Providing an update on the project, Umahi said the first 50 kilometres of reinforced concrete pavement are about 97 percent complete. However, the President directed that the first 15 kilometres be opened ahead of the Easter period to ease travel for road users.
He also listed several ongoing and completed road projects across the Southeast, including the Aba–Ikot Ekpene Road, the Umuahia–Ikot Ekpene Road, the Umuahia–Aba Road, and the Owerri–Aba Road.
Other projects mentioned by the minister include the Second Niger Bypass, the Enugu–Abakaliki Road, and various sections of the Enugu–Port Harcourt highway currently being handled by different contractors.
Umahi said the projects demonstrate the Federal Government’s commitment to addressing infrastructure deficits in the region and counter perceptions of marginalisation. “The marginalisation we are talking about is over. For the first time, your son is Minister of Works,” he said.
He further noted that the administration has also carried out emergency interventions, including the reconstruction of two collapsed bridges at the Artisan area of Enugu within nine months.
On the political front, the minister urged leaders and residents of the Southeast to adopt a strategic approach ahead of the 2027 elections by supporting President Tinubu’s bid for a second term. “We should not be aiming to give him anything less than 80 percent. Do that and leave the rest for us. We will boldly go to the negotiation table,” Umahi said.
He argued that political cooperation among southern states had already played a role in the emergence of President Tinubu in 2023, recalling a meeting of southern governors in Asaba where the region supported a southern presidency. “We vote for our brother in the Southwest, when it’s our turn, they will vote for us. That’s the strategy,” he said.
Umahi also called on Southeast political leaders to openly communicate federal government projects in the region to their constituents and mobilise support for the administration. “Leaders must meet. We must collectively proclaim what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing for us,” he said.
The minister added that additional improvements would be made along the Enugu–Onitsha corridor, including solar-powered street lighting and tree planting along the route, to enhance safety and environmental sustainability.
He said the partial opening of the road would immediately ease travel challenges, particularly around the Ugwu Onyema axis, where accidents involving heavy-duty trucks had previously been frequent.
