KEY POINTS
- Umahi has formally invited both the ICPC and EFCC to independently audit road projects.
- ICPC has concluded part of its assignment and is reviewing procurement processes.
- EFCC will begin its own investigation after the Sallah break.
Works Minister David Umahi took an unusual step Wednesday, formally inviting Nigeria’s two principal anti-corruption agencies to scrutinise every project under his ministry, from contract files to physical road sites across the country.
The Umahi road ministry probe invitation covers both the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. Umahi made the disclosure after receiving a Personality of the Year award from Al-Jazeera Newspaper Nigeria in Abuja, framing the move as a deliberate transparency measure in response to mounting public allegations of corruption and mismanagement in road contract execution.
Concrete roads at the centre of the controversy
“We wrote to ICPC to go round and investigate all our projects, not on paper, but physically, we also wrote to EFCC. While we are not hiding anything, any file they want, any information, is available,” he said.
The ICPC has already concluded part of its field work and currently reviews procurement processes at the ministry. The EFCC begins its investigation after the Sallah break. Umahi said no one in the ministry would interfere with either process.
Umahi linked much of the criticism his ministry faces to his decision to shift federal road construction from asphalt to concrete, a policy he said entrenched interests fiercely resisted. He defended the switch on long-term value grounds, arguing that concrete roads last up to 100 years with minimal maintenance, compared to the shorter lifespan of asphalt surfaces that have dominated Nigeria’s road network.
The Umahi road ministry probe also comes as the ministry manages a capital expenditure allocation of approximately N3.24 trillion for the 2025 fiscal cycle, targeted primarily at completing legacy road projects inherited from previous administrations.
Ministry says every contract is defensible
Umahi told journalists he could account for every line item in every contract his ministry had awarded. “If you wake me up and ask about any project, say the cost of concrete per cubic metre, we can disaggregate everything: the cost of cement, sand, chippings, equipment, and labour. There is nothing we do in this ministry that we cannot defend,” he said.
He also used the occasion to caution journalists against amplifying unverified corruption allegations, while reaffirming the ministry’s commitment to transparency. The Al-Jazeera Newspaper Nigeria CEO Williams Bassey said the award followed independent investigations into allegations against the ministry in 2024, none of which produced evidence of corruption.
