The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has challenged the Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, to a public debate over the controversies surrounding the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
According to Umahi, he is a senior to Makinde in both governance and engineering practice, and the Governor should stay away from what he doesn’t understand.
The Minister maintained that the Governor lacks an understanding of the technical details of the project and should seek clarification on what he doesn’t know instead of making public statements to score cheap political points.
Naijaonpoint recalls that Governor Makinde, during an interview with journalists on Friday, asked Umahi to stop dancing around over the cost of the project and disclose the cost per kilometre of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project.
However, Umahi, who spoke on Saturday during an inspection tour of the Keffi Bridge and the Nasarawa–Toto Road projects, alongside the Nasarawa State governor, Abdullahi Sule, said Makinde lacks the qualification to challenge him on such matters.
He challenged the Governor to withdraw his earlier statement or face him in a debate if he has any point to prove.
“I heard that my brother and friend, Governor Makinde of Oyo state, said something about the cost per kilometre. I don’t want to join issues with him. I think he is an engineer, I think he is an electrician, they call it ‘elect-elect’. But this road construction matter, ‘elect-elect no reach there.
“I am his senior both in governance and in engineering practice. So, anything he doesn’t understand, he should call me and ask. I have great respect for him as my friend and brother, but he should withdraw the statement that I’m dancing around. I never danced around. If he insists, he should come for a debate, which is very important,” he said.
Umahi insisted that there is no ambiguity in determining the cost per kilometre of the project, adding that the estimated cost includes allowances for contingencies and variation of price, which may not eventually be utilised.
“There is no ambiguity in cost per kilometre,” he said. “I am teaching them that cost per kilometre can be divided into estimated cost, which has elements of variance, and average cost, which is definitive. The average cost of a definitive project and the estimated cost are probable elements.
“When the project is completed, and you remove what you didn’t use, such as contingencies and VOP, then you have your actual cost,” he added.
Umahi stated that some critics who asked Artificial Intelligence to explain the difference between estimated and average cost, got a response that aligned with his own earlier explanation on the matter.
“When somebody who is dangling without knowledge goes to ask AI what the difference is between cost per kilometre and average cost, I’m happy that AI told him exactly what I said,” the minister stated.
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