Minister of Works, David Umahi, has directed that pictures of President Bola Tinubu be displayed on the First Niger Bridge after the completion of ongoing rehabilitation work.
Umahi gave the directive on Wednesday during an inspection of the bridge, which links Anambra and Delta states.
The minister also urged voters in the South-East to consider Tinubu’s infrastructure projects in the region ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The First Niger Bridge was closed earlier this month after vandals removed structural components, including bolts, nuts and parts of its expansion joints.
Umahi directed that all illegal advertisements on the bridge be removed after the rehabilitation and replaced with pictures of Tinubu.
“Once we are done with work on this bridge, I want all the illegal adverts on this bridge removed. Anyone who wants to advertise should apply to the Ministry of Works. For now, the bridge will be decorated with the pictures of President Tinubu,” Umahi said.
“The President has worked so hard and we need to reward his hard work by decorating this bridge with his pictures.”
Speaking ahead of the 2027 election, the minister appealed to voters in the South-East not to “throw away” their votes.
“I want to say to Ndigbo that we should not throw away our votes in 2027. In the last election we did not vote for him so well, yet he is bringing projects to our region,” he said.
Umahi, a member of the All Progressives Congress, also challenged supporters of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, to identify projects Obi had attracted to the South-East.
“I have a bragging right in Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and I’m proud of him and will be willing to show anyone who wants to know all that he has done,” he said.
“Peter Obi is our brother and we do not hate him, but we need to be realistic this time. I don’t care about people abusing me on social media, they should only tell us what Obi has attracted to the South-East.”
Meanwhile, rehabilitation work on the First Niger Bridge is nearing completion, with the Federal Ministry of Works expecting to reopen the bridge next week.
The bridge was initially scheduled to reopen on September 21, but the reopening was postponed by one week due to persistent rainfall that affected the work.
Umahi said the government would not rush the reopening until critical structural work was completed.
“We will be here next week to open the bridge,” he said.
He also directed that no security checkpoint should be located within 200 metres of the bridge, saying checkpoints could worsen traffic and put additional pressure on the structure.
The rehabilitation includes replacement of vandalised bolts and expansion joints, repairs to the carriageway and walkways, installation of CCTV cameras and streetlights, as well as other structural works.
Umahi directed the governors of Anambra and Delta states to monitor scrap markets in their states over concerns about the vandalism of public infrastructure.
He also said dredging activities around the bridge could be banned where necessary, while structural assessments would continue to ensure the safety of the facility.
The minister said one carriageway could initially be reopened while work continues on the other after the concrete reaches the required strength.
He apologised to motorists for the disruption caused by the closure and thanked the Anambra and Delta state governments for their cooperation during the rehabilitation.
