The Minister of Works, Engr. David Umahi, on Tuesday, abruptly walked out of a scheduled press conference after coming into the meeting venue 52 minutes late.
Reporters covering the Ministry were seated at the Ministry’s Conference Hall venue of the meeting when the Minister and his entourage walked into the hall.
As soon as the national anthem and the national pledge were recited, for some inexplicable reason, the minister stood up and declared, “There is no press here; the press conference cannot hold.”
With this, he asked the Permanent Secretary Yakubu Adam Kofarmata and other staff of the ministry who accompanied him to “follow me to the office.”
The minister’s conduct didn’t go down well with the over 40 journalists from the traditional media as well as online platforms who voiced their frustrations for the time wasted as well as the minister’s conduct.
The press conference which was scheduled for 2:00 pm, was at the instance of the Minister.
Ministry staff who spoke in confidence for fear of retribution confided in Vanguard that, “The minister asked for meeting to speak on some of the Ministry’s achievements under his stewardship and take some questions we didn’t know what happened.
“He probably developed cold feet or is in a bad mood.”
Invitations for the event were sent out a few hours to it’s commencement. It is the practice rather than the exception at the ministry to start events hours behind schedule.
