ObunikeBy Obunike Ohaegbu
Senator Adams Oshiomhole’s recent criticism of the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, over the deplorable condition of federal roads connecting Edo and Delta States might, on the surface, appear to be a courageous defence of his constituents. A deeper examination, however, raises serious questions about Oshiomhole’s political history, collective responsibility and the timing of his intervention.
Oshiomhole is not a newcomer to government or an opposition politician confronting an administration over which he has had no influence. He governed Edo State for eight years, from 2008 to 2016. He was a founding member of the All Progressives Congress and later served as its national chairman—one of the most powerful positions within the ruling party. He remains an influential APC leader, currently represents Edo North in the Senate and is one of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s most visible and fierce political defenders.
These positions matter because the deterioration of the Benin–Warri, Benin–Asaba, Benin–Auchi and Auchi–Okene roads did not begin with Umahi’s appointment as Minister of Works. The roads have deteriorated over many years, including periods when Oshiomhole was governor, APC national chairman and a prominent member of the ruling political establishment.
Oshiomhole cannot, therefore, reasonably present himself as a powerless observer who has only just discovered the suffering of road users in Edo State. His long political prominence imposes a responsibility to explain what he did, throughout his years of influence, to ensure that these roads received adequate federal attention.
Umahi is not the Federal Government
Oshiomhole is an experienced senator who should understand how federal projects are conceived, appropriated, funded and supervised. The Minister of Works does not personally take federal money to a supermarket and return with completed roads. Road construction requires inclusion in the federal budget, appropriation by the National Assembly, release of funds by the executive, procurement, supervision and sustained implementation.
As a senator, Oshiomhole is part of the National Assembly that approves federal budgets and exercises oversight over ministries, departments and agencies. He should know whether funds were proposed, appropriated and released for the roads about which he now complains. He should also explain what amendments, motions, committee interventions and oversight measures he pursued to secure the necessary funding.
It is, therefore, misleading to reduce a broad institutional failure to the personal conduct of one minister. If the roads were repeatedly omitted from federal budgets, where were the APC senators and members of the House of Representatives from Edo State? If funds were appropriated but not released, responsibility extends beyond the Minister of Works to the wider executive structure. If projects were funded but abandoned or poorly executed, the National Assembly must account for the effectiveness of its oversight.
These are the questions Oshiomhole should answer instead of creating the impression that President Tinubu and the APC have performed creditably while Umahi alone refused to carry out a simple assignment.
Preparing a scapegoat for the 2027 campaign
The timing of Oshiomhole’s outburst is politically instructive. As the 2027 elections approach, he will be required to return to Edo North and seek the renewed confidence of voters who must travel on these same terrible roads. Campaigning for the APC while the physical evidence of the party’s failure confronts the electorate daily will be difficult.
In my considered opinion, Oshiomhole is preparing the ground to distance himself from that failure. Rather than accept the collective responsibility of the APC administration, he has singled out Umahi as a convenient sacrificial lamb. During the campaign, he may attempt to tell voters that he fought for their roads but was frustrated by an allegedly biased minister.
That narrative should not be accepted without scrutiny.
Oshiomhole is not an outsider to the Tinubu administration. He has been one of the President’s strongest political defenders. Yet, instead of directing his criticism towards the President, under whose authority the minister serves and whose administration determines national spending priorities, Oshiomhole has chosen to place the blame almost entirely on Umahi.
If the administration has failed to rehabilitate strategic federal roads in Edo and Delta States, that is a failure of the Federal Government led by President Tinubu—not merely a personal failure of the Minister of Works. Umahi implements the policies and financial priorities of the government. He does not appropriate funds, and he cannot spend money that has neither been budgeted nor released.
Oshiomhole apparently wants to preserve the political image of his favoured President while preparing Umahi to serve as the scapegoat during his re-election campaign. This may be politically convenient, but it is neither intellectually honest nor sufficient to excuse the APC’s record.
Accountability must begin with Oshiomhole
Oshiomhole should tell the people of Edo State:
- What did he do during his eight years as governor to secure lasting attention for these roads?
- What did he accomplish as APC national chairman concerning these critical federal highways?
- What specific budgetary provisions has he sponsored, defended or secured as senator representing Edo North?
- Were funds appropriated for the roads, and were those funds released?
- What oversight actions did he initiate when the projects were neglected?
- Why has he concentrated his attack on Umahi while largely shielding President Tinubu and the APC administration from responsibility?
People who fall far below the standards they publicly proclaim are often quick to find scapegoats. Oshiomhole cannot separate himself from a political establishment in which he has occupied several powerful positions. He must accept his share of responsibility for the condition of the roads and the wider failures of the APC government.
The APC has failed Nigerians
I have consistently maintained that the APC has failed Nigeria. The condition of the roads connecting Benin to Warri, Asaba, Auchi and Okene is only one manifestation of a wider national failure. Nigerians are confronted by insecurity, deteriorating infrastructure, unbearable living costs and a system of governance that consumes enormous resources while delivering increasingly limited benefits.
Replacing one APC officeholder or blaming one minister will not cure this failure. Nigeria requires a fundamental change in leadership, priorities and the cost of governance.
The National Democratic Congress remains, in my view, the best available political alternative, notwithstanding the monumental failure of its present leadership to conduct credible primaries. That failure must not be ignored or excused. However, it can be challenged and corrected through the various cases presently before the courts and through sustained internal democratic reforms.
I remain convinced that a Peter Obi–Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso combination offers Nigeria its strongest prospect for responsible national renewal. Beyond their experience and regional appeal, their personal lifestyles and approaches to public resources could help revolutionise the cost and culture of governance in Nigeria.
Nigeria does not need more political scapegoating. It needs leaders who accept responsibility, submit themselves to accountability and demonstrate through their conduct that public office is a call to service rather than an opportunity for personal comfort.
Oshiomhole is entitled to demand better roads for Edo State. But he cannot credibly condemn the consequences of a political system he helped to establish, led and continues to defend while pretending that Umahi alone created the problem. The people of Edo State—and Nigerians generally—deserve the complete truth.
Sir Obunike Ohaegbu is an NDC aspirant for the Nnewi North/Nnewi South/Ekwusigo Federal Constituency. He writes from his village, Ukpor, Anambra State.
