You’re Dancing Around The Truth!” – Gov Makinde Blasts Umahi Over Coastal Highway Cost Debate

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has criticized the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, over his recent confrontation with Arise TV anchor Rufai Oseni concerning the cost of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway project approved by President Bola Tinubu.

During the interview, Rufai had pressed the minister to provide a detailed cost breakdown of the project per kilometre, a question that appeared to irritate Umahi. The minister became visibly angry after Oseni accused him of reporting the incident to President Tinubu.

In a heated exchange, Umahi declared himself a “professor in engineering,” prompting Rufai to demand clarification on when and where he earned the title. Umahi responded that his professorship was based on professional experience, not academia, saying:

“Keep quiet and stop saying what you don’t know. I’m a professor in this field. You don’t understand anything.”

Reacting to the controversy, Governor Makinde urged Umahi to “stop dancing around the issue” and provide transparency on the project’s true cost.

Makinde stated:

“They asked a minister how much the coastal road costs, and instead of answering directly, you’re saying one kilometre differs from another. So, what’s the average cost?”

He went on to cite examples from Oyo State road projects for comparison:

“When we did the Oyo to Iseyin road, it was about ₦9.99 billion for roughly 34–35 kilometres — that’s about ₦238 million per kilometre. The Iseyin to Ogbomoso road, 76 kilometres, cost about ₦43 billion — roughly ₦500 million per kilometre — and that included two bridges.”