The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has disclosed that he used his personal funds to pay for banners bearing President Bola Tinubu’s images displayed on the rehabilitated First Niger Bridge.
Umahi made the disclosure during an exclusive interview with ARISE News, amid controversy over the display of the President’s images on the federal infrastructure.
The minister insisted that public funds were not used to promote Tinubu on the bridge, which connects Onitsha in Anambra State with Asaba in Delta State.
“I paid for it,” Umahi said, explaining how the banners were funded.
“He collected money from me, my personal money, to put those posters up,” he added, referring to the private operator responsible for advertising on the bridge.
Umahi explained that the Federal Government had granted private operators advertising rights on federal infrastructure, allowing them to sell available spaces commercially while paying the government for the concession.
He said the arrangement was not exclusive to Tinubu or members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that other political figures could also advertise on the bridge if they met the operator’s requirements.
Asked whether Peter Obi, the former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), could display his own banner on the bridge, Umahi said the decision rested with the franchise operator.
According to the minister, Obi would have to “pay whatever the franchisee asks”.
“I’m not going to roll out the red carpet for him,” Umahi added.
The minister maintained that the presence of Tinubu’s images on the bridge should not be interpreted as the Ministry of Works using public infrastructure exclusively for the President’s political promotion.
He also said images of governors from the Southeast and South-South had been displayed on the bridge, including those who are not members of the APC.
The controversy followed the Federal Government’s reopening of the First Niger Bridge after 38 days of emergency rehabilitation.
The intervention included asphalt resurfacing, the marking of the median and other safety improvements. Umahi also outlined additional work, including the installation of surveillance cameras and solar lighting, as well as maintenance of sections of the bridge’s steel structure.
Umahi had earlier called for Tinubu’s images to be displayed on the bridge while urging residents of the Southeast to acknowledge the administration’s infrastructure projects in the region.