Minister of Works, Dave Umahi says that irrespective of an expression of freedom of speech, he is quick to lash back at those who call him to rain abuses.
Umahi stated this Thursday on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily while addressing contractors to be willing to changes in the country’s infrastructure system of the country.
The minister who boasted about his accessibility when he was a governor, stated that contractors during this tenure as Ebonyi leader had access to him.
“When I was governor, I had only one line and I responded to all text messages and phone calls.
“They call me to abuse me and sometimes I abuse them back – that is the beauty of democracy – freedom of speech and I am also human”.
According to him, he is only going to apologise for cases of service not being delivered.
However, he sternly said, “If you just abuse me unduly without any reference to the job, I will find a mild way to also abuse you back by telling you to be reasonable, not that I am going to use foul language”.
The Ebonyi State former governor also warned against the misappropriation of public funds in office, adding that there are consequences attached to the act.
“In my reviewing process of the books, I have not seen the likelihood of anybody taking money from the project. They are giving money out, they are giving money from their legitimate profit.
“It’s not the problem of people taking money from them, they have to make up their minds to work for Nigerians. They have to make up their minds that this is public funds and I tell people that public funds have a lot of problems because, when you take public funds without using it to work, you are taking lives and it has a lot of consequences,” he noted.
Umahi also stated that President Bola Tinubu will allocate funds for the construction of quality roads across the country.
According to him, the significant issue encountered in road development is the construction cost.
‘You Can’t Frustrate Me’
Umahi on Tuesday urged civil servants to key into his agenda of providing quality infrastructure for the country, warning that no civil servant has the capacity to frustrate his efforts.
The minister, who warned that his file should not spend more than two hours on the table of any official of the ministry, said he was determined to instill discipline and hard work in the system.
Umahi stated this while interacting with contractors and senior civil servants in the ministry.
He said, “No civil servant has the capacity to frustrate me. You can’t keep my file in your office for two hours. You can’t try it,” stressing that he was not answerable to anybody but the Almighty God and President Tinubu.
He charged the civil servants to do things properly as Nigerians were yearning for change and the government could not afford to disappoint them.
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