By The Metro 
The First Niger Bridge linking Anambra and Delta states is set to be decorated with pictures of President Bola Tinubu following a directive by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, as he urged voters in the South East to consider the President’s infrastructure projects ahead of the 2027 election.
Umahi gave the directive on Wednesday while inspecting rehabilitation work on the bridge, which was closed earlier this month after vandals removed structural components including bolts, nuts and parts of the expansion joint.
The minister said all illegal advertisements on the bridge should be removed after the rehabilitation and replaced with pictures of Tinubu to recognise what he described as the President’s efforts in the region.
“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.”
Umahi also used the inspection to appeal to voters in the South East ahead of the 2027 presidential election, urging them not to “throw away” their votes.
He argued that although the South East did not strongly support Tinubu in the last election, the region had benefited from projects under his administration.
“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,” the minister said.
Umahi, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress, also challenged supporters of Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, to identify projects he 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.”
The minister’s comments came as rehabilitation work on the First Niger Bridge nears 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 date was extended by one week following persistent rainfall that affected the rehabilitation work.
Umahi said the government would not rush the reopening until critical structural work had been completed.
“We will be here next week to open the bridge,” he said, adding that there should be no security checkpoint within 200 metres of the bridge because checkpoints could worsen traffic and place additional pressure on the structure.
The rehabilitation has included the replacement of vandalised bolts and expansion joints, work on the carriageway and walkways, installation of CCTV cameras and streetlights, as well as other structural improvements.
Umahi also directed the governors of Anambra and Delta states to monitor scrap markets in their states, citing concerns over the vandalism of public infrastructure.
He said the ministry would also ban dredging activities around the bridge where necessary and continue with structural assessments to ensure the facility remains safe.
The minister said one carriageway could initially reopen 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 governments of Anambra and Delta for their cooperation during the rehabilitation.