The Minister of Works, David Umahi, battled the National Assembly Joint Committee on Works over N2.2 trillion budget defence. The recalcitrant disposition of the Minister resulted in verbal assaults and heated arguments, forcing the co-chairs of the joint committee to adjourn proceedings.

The Works Minister, Umahi, making his presentation, highlighted an overview of the ₦2.215 trillion budget proposal, to be disbursed to the Ministry and its parastatals.

Umahi said that capital expenditure accounts for ₦2.168 trillion; broken down as ₦2.037 trillion for the Ministry of Works, ₦130.676 billion for the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA, and ₦510 million for the African German Institute for Special Information Science and Technology.

The proceeding was thrown into chaos when Senator Adams Oshiomhole openly challenged the Minister over the handling of the Abuja–Kaduna Road contract.

Oshiomhole questioned the decision to disengage Julius Berger and award the contract to a company linked to Mikano, which he argued had no known track record in road construction.

Senator Peter Nwebonyi, Ebonyi North, joined the deliberation. He praised the Minister’s performance, commending ongoing infrastructure reforms.

Nwebonyi comment provoked disquiets from some members of the committee. They berated Nwebonyi for “bootlicking”. This precipitated chaos.

The ensuing chaos compelled the Co-chairmen of the joint committee, Senator Sani Hanga and Akin Alabi, to adjourn the hearing. They resolved that further clarifications could be sought from the Minister at a later date.