"2027 Not Turn of South East": Umahi Declares as Peter Obi Releases Bold Statement
- Minister of Works, David Umahi, has declared that it is not yet the South-East’s turn to produce Nigeria’s president
- The former Ebonyi state governor maintained that President Tinubu has been fair to all parts of the country, citing ongoing multi-billion-naira infrastructure projects in the South-East
- Labour Party’s Peter Obi disagreed with Umahi, stressing that only the electorate, not political elites, have the power to determine who becomes Nigeria’s next president
FCT, Abuja - Minister of Works, David Umahi and 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, have recently registered different opinions about the position of the southeast in the 2027 presidential election.
Specifically, Umahi urged the South-East to be patient in its quest for Nigeria’s presidency, declaring that it is not yet the region’s turn to produce the country’s next leader.
Source: Twitter
As reported by Punch, Umahi reiterated that political balance and continuity required President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to be given a chance to fulfill his constitutionally allowed eight years in office.
"No, it is not our time; but it is not the South-East time. We, 17 of us the southern governors, traveled to Asaba prior to 2023 and sat down and concluded that the president after Buhari has to be from the South.".
"The crown was on President Bola Tinubu. Thus, it is not correct for the South-East to now claim it is their turn," Umahi insisted.
Umahi: Tinubu's presidency is for whole south
Through him, Tinubu's leadership embodies the whole southern bloc and must be allowed to take its full course before regional rotation is again worth debating.
"He (Tinubu) must complete the eight years. The eight years he absorbed belong to everybody, both South and North. When he completes in 2031, the South-East can now hold their own, because they have never held the seat before," he stated.
Umahi declares: ‘Tinubu fair to all regions’
Umahi, former Ebonyi state governor, contended that the President was fair to all regions in the country by infrastructural development and collective leadership.
"Right now, President Bola Tinubu does not mind where you are from. He is treating everyone very nicely," he stated.
He quoted the ongoing multi-billion-naira projects in the South-East such as the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, Port Harcourt-Aba-Umuahia-Enugu Dual Carriageway, and Abakaliki-Benue Boundary Trans-Sahara Road, as evidence of the President's passion for development in the region.
Umahi also conceded that the South-East was hitherto marginalised but countered that Tinubu's administration was balancing the pendulum.
2027: Obi faults Umahi’s position
Reacting to Umahi’s remarks, Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, faulted the Minister’s assertion, insisting that the decision on Nigeria’s next president rests solely with the electorate, not political elites.
Speaking through his media aide and national coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr Yunusa Tanko, Obi said the people’s will, not elite consensus, would determine the outcome of the 2027 polls.
“It is a democratic setting, and it is the people who will decide who becomes the next president, not any individual. Performance and track record will determine what the people want. That is how it should be.”
He added that while regional rotation should not ideally dominate political discourse, it had become a necessary mechanism for national unity, Punch reported.
“Ordinarily, we shouldn’t be having talks about whether it should be a southern or northern candidate. But since it has already been established for the unity of this country, the status quo should remain," Obi said.
Obi: ‘People, not politicians, will decide 2027’
Source: Twitter
Obi’s camp argued that the electorate, not political actors, would shape Nigeria’s leadership direction in 2027.
Tanko criticised politicians defecting to the All Progressives Congress (APC), warning that such moves were driven by self-interest rather than genuine popular support, as reported by Punch.
“Most of these governors do not have the mandate of the people to do what they are doing. They are desperately chasing the funds being doled out by the APC-led Federal Government as a carrot," Tanko said.
He added that political inducement would not sway the South-East electorate.
“When the chips are down, the people will show their anger. The South-East electorate remain loyal to the ideals of justice and accountability,” Tanko said.
2027: Igbo elder 'disowns' Peter Obi
Previously, Legit.ng reported that Orji Uzor Kalu, senator representing Abia north, has said Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election, is not his leader.
Speaking in an interview with Channels TV on Wednesday night, October 8, monitored by Legit.ng, Kalu declared that he is "the most important politician" from Nigeria's southeast geopolitical zone.
Proofreading by Kola Muhammed, copy editor at Legit.ng.
Source: Legit.ng
