The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, Monday, declared the readiness of the 10th National Assembly to support infrastructural development across the country.
Kalu, who spoke in Abuja at the reception held in honour of the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi in Abuja, also pledged the support of the Federal lawmakers to the minister to succeed in his new assignment.
The reception, which was organised by the Ebonyi State Government had Chief Bisi Akande, Deputy Senate President, Senator Barau Jibrin; Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, among other dignitaries in attendance.
The deputy speaker, who thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing Umahi as a minister, tasked the minister to employ a collaborative approach as he did as a governor of Ebonyi in the discharge of his duties.
To this end, he tasked Umahi key into the road investment fund as a method of financing his road projects and also asked him to project the privatisation approach as part of his methods as a minister of works.
Also speaking, the Deputy Senate President expressed confidence in Umahi’s ability to deliver on his mandate, saying that at the end of his tenure, he would emerge as the best minister of works in the annal of history.
In his address, the Ebonyi State Governor, Hon. Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru, lauded the choice of Umahi as the works minister, saying that he used his expertise to transform Ebonyi State.
The Chairman of the Progressives Governors’ Forum and the Imo state Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, said Umahi as the former governor of Ebonyi state had demonstrated the capacity to deliver on his new mandate.
Responding, Umahi expressed his gratitude to God and President Tinubu for the opportunity to serve the nation, saying that he is a minister for all Nigerians, and pledged not to betray the confidence reposed in him.
He, however, assured that any road he engages in would not be maintained in the next 50 years, saying the road under his watch would be engaged 24 hours.
