Following President Bola Tinubu’s aborted visit to Yelwata due to severe flooding on the Lafia–Makurdi highway, Minister of Works, David Umahi, has ordered immediate remedial work on the affected section of the road. The incident, which occurred after heavy rains, forced Tinubu’s convoy to turn back, drawing national attention to the state of the critical route.
Umahi described the situation as embarrassing and attributed the flooding to a blocked culvert managed by the private concessionaire, China Harbour. He deployed engineers to clear the obstruction and directed them to develop permanent flood-prevention solutions. The minister warned of consequences for further lapses by highway concessionaires under the federal PPP model.
The Ministry of Works issued a formal apology to the President and Nigerians for the disruption. Meanwhile, in a separate meeting, Umahi engaged Citibank Nigeria to support key infrastructure projects under the Renewed Hope Agenda, signaling a broader push for private-sector-backed development across federal road networks.