——Umahi urged lawmakers to conduct an on-the-spot inspection of the Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano road amid allegations of substandard work.
A tense exchange between two senators on Wednesday briefly disrupted a joint budget defence session of the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Works, as lawmakers reviewed the 2026 budget proposals of the Ministry of Works.
The disagreement involved Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi (Ebonyi North) and Senator Rufai Hanga (Kano Central), who was presiding over the session as vice-chairman in the absence of the committee chairman, Senator Mpigi Barinada.
Proceedings had initially progressed smoothly, with the Minister of Works, David Umahi, outlining the ministry’s spending plans and responding to questions from legislators. However, tension flared when Nwebonyi took the floor to commend the minister’s performance and urged lawmakers to recognise his efforts.
Midway into his remarks, Hanga cautioned him to round up, a move that angered the Ebonyi senator. Nwebonyi protested the interruption, arguing that other lawmakers, particularly Senator Adams Oshiomhole, had spoken at length without being stopped.
“You cannot stop me from speaking after allowing Senator Oshiomhole to talk for 15 solid minutes,” Nwebonyi said, adding that as a ranking member of the ruling party, he could take over the proceedings.
Hanga immediately rejected the claim, struck the gavel and ordered him to stop speaking, insisting that Nwebonyi had no authority to assume control of the session.
The confrontation escalated when Nwebonyi declared that he could not be “ruled against by a minority senator.” In response, Hanga fired back that the votes that brought him to the Senate were “ten times higher” than those secured by his colleague in Ebonyi North, accusing him of “bootlicking his boss” — a reference to his open support for Umahi, who also hails from Ebonyi State.
Calm was eventually restored following the intervention of Senators Ali Ndume (Borno South), Adamu Aliero (Kebbi Central), and Akin Alabi, chairman of the House Committee on Works, allowing the budget session to continue.
Earlier in his presentation, Minister Umahi had challenged lawmakers to carry out an on-the-spot inspection of the Abuja–Kaduna–Zaria–Kano road amid allegations of substandard work.
“I will resign if it is found not up to standard,” the minister declared.
Umahi disclosed that out of the N3.245 trillion capital allocation proposed for the Ministry of Works in the 2026 budget, N760 billion has been earmarked for new projects across the six geopolitical zones. He explained that these projects are separate from the four legacy road projects and the Akwanga–Jos–Bauchi–Gombe–Maiduguri corridor.
The minister also assured lawmakers that the estimated N7 trillion needed to complete road projects earlier withdrawn by the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) would be sourced through the domestic bond market. Despite the heated exchange, the session concluded with lawmakers continuing their review of the ministry’s budget proposals.