In an effort to encourage South East voters to consider President Bola Tinubu‘s infrastructure record before the 2027 election, Minister of Works David Umahi has ordered that pictures of the president be placed on the First Niger Bridge connecting Anambra and Delta states once ongoing rehabilitation work is finished.
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Umahi issued the order on Wednesday while examining the bridge’s repair work. The bridge had been shut down earlier in September due to vandals removing bolts, nuts, and portions of the expansion joint.
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Umahi’s directive on the bridge’s decoration
The minister said all illegal advertisements currently on the bridge should be removed once rehabilitation is complete, with anyone wishing to advertise required to apply through the Ministry of Works instead. In their place, he said, the structure would carry images of Tinubu, framing this as a way of recognising what he described as the president’s commitment to the region’s infrastructure. He argued that the effort put into the project warranted this form of public acknowledgment.
Umahi’s appeal to South East voters
Umahi used the inspection to make a direct appeal to voters in the South East ahead of 2027, urging them against what he called throwing away their votes. He acknowledged that the region had not voted strongly for Tinubu in the last election, but argued that it had nonetheless benefited from projects delivered under his administration, framing this as grounds for reconsideration at the polls. He also challenged supporters of Labour Party-aligned candidate Peter Obi to name specific projects Obi had attracted to the South East, describing his own record of championing Tinubu’s initiatives in the region as something he was prepared to defend publicly, while maintaining that his remarks were not intended as personal hostility toward Obi.
What Umahi actually said
Umahi’s comments reflect his own political framing of the region’s infrastructure gains as a reason to back Tinubu in 2027, delivered by a serving minister and APC member with a direct stake in the party’s electoral prospects in the South East. His characterisation of the region’s voting history and its supposed obligations going forward is a political argument rather than a neutral account of development outcomes, and it does not address counter-arguments that might be raised by supporters of rival candidates. As the 2027 campaign season builds, comments of this kind from sitting officials are likely to become more frequent.
Bridge reopening and rehabilitation update
Separately, Umahi confirmed that rehabilitation work on the bridge is nearing completion, with reopening expected next week after an earlier target date was pushed back by persistent rainfall. He said the government would not rush the process until critical structural work was finished, adding that one carriageway could reopen first while work continues on the other pending concrete strength tests. He also directed the governors of Anambra and Delta to monitor scrap markets in their states over concerns about infrastructure vandalism, and said security checkpoints would be barred within 200 metres of the bridge to avoid worsening traffic and pressure on the structure. The rehabilitation has included replacing vandalised bolts and expansion joints, carriageway and walkway repairs, and the installation of CCTV cameras and streetlights.
Source: Vanguard News.
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