ABUJA — The Senate went from a routine budget session to a heated interrogation on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, as Senator Adams Oshiomhole took on the Minister of Works, David Umahi, over the controversial awarding of the Abuja-Kaduna road contract.
In a viral exchange captured by TVC News, Oshiomhole questioned why a project of such national importance was stripped from the reputable Julius Berger only to be handed to a company linked to Mikano, a firm primarily known for distributing power generators.
The “Reputation” Question
Oshiomhole, representing Edo North, didn’t mince words. While he acknowledged the government’s right to revoke contracts for non-performance, he expressed total bewilderment at the choice of the successor.
“What I fail to understand is why you award the contract to a new company that is formed by Mikano,” Oshiomhole queried. “Mikano has been known for generator distribution… They have no history of road construction. Why would you take a job from a reputable company and give it to an unknown company that has no record of having worked anywhere?”
The Senator challenged the Minister to provide a 10-to-20-year track record of any major road project completed by the firm, insisting that “it is all about reputation.”
“Tractors That Don’t Move”
Describing a recent trip along the corridor with a Kaduna local, Oshiomhole mocked the current state of work on the site. He claimed to have seen equipment that appeared more decorative than functional.
“I go there, I see a tractor that is not moving,” he remarked. “Whether they are working or not is arguable. This Kaduna road is not a miracle; it is not rocket science.”
Concrete vs. Competence
Minister Umahi has been a vocal advocate for shifting Nigeria’s road construction to concrete technology. However, Oshiomhole dismissed the “concrete vs. asphalt” debate as a distraction from the real issue: contractor competence.
- The Argument: Oshiomhole argued that if a contractor is incompetent and supervision is “almost zero,” the material used—whether concrete or asphalt—will not prevent the road from failing.
- The Legislative Stance: He reminded the Minister that while the National Assembly has never declined appropriations for the President’s capital budget, they would not sit idly by while those funds were potentially mismanaged.
The Tinubu Factor
As a key minister in the President Bola Tinubu administration, Umahi is under immense pressure to deliver on the “Renewed Hope” infrastructure promises. The Abuja-Kaduna road is a vital artery for the North, and any perceived “experimentation” with unknown contractors is likely to face stiff political resistance.
The Ministry of Works has yet to release a formal profile of the specific Mikano-linked entity to justify its technical capacity for the multi-billion Naira project.
