2023: Nigeria Won’t Survive One Week Under Umahi, Says AESID

• Governor Dave Umahi's presidential ambition has suffered a setback from his home state of Ebonyi
• An influential group in the state has warned Nigerians against voting for the governor, describing him as a dictator
• The group, Association of Ebonyi Indigenes in the Diaspora, alleged that the governor has muzzled opposition elements in the southeast state

FCT, Abuja - The Association of Ebonyi Indigenes in the Diaspora (AESID) has reacted to the decision of Governor Dave Umahi to declare his interest in the 2023 presidential race.

The group in a statement said it received with mixed feelings the news that Umahi has joined the 2023 presidential race, saying the governor should give stewardship of his seven years in the state.

While totally rejecting Umahi’s presidential ambition, the group said Nigeria won’t survive a week under Umahi as president.

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AESID’s President Ambassador Paschal Oluchukwu, who acknowledged Umahi’s constitutional right to contest, in the statement seen by Legit.ng, however, said:

“The governor has failed to secure our tiny Ebonyi state with the consistent and reported attacks and communal clashes recorded under his administration, some of which are allegedly fuelled even by his political appointees.

“As we speak, thousands who were displaced by communal war in Effium, Ohaukwu local government area of the state are yet to return to their ancestral homes, needless to speak of receiving any succour whatsoever from the Umahi administration.

“Any wonder Ebonyi is now officially rated the poverty capital of entire southern Nigeria by the National Bureau of Statistics.”

While rejecting Umahi’s presidential ambition, the group further said:

“With the way and manner he has handled the state’s House of Assembly which is ordinarily a separate arm of government, we are certain that a National Assembly under an Umahi presidency would be worse than the current rubber-stamp legislative arm that we have in Nigeria.

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“Will Nigeria truly survive just a one-week reign of a dictator like Umahi?”

How Governor Umahi joined the 2023 presidential race

Governor Umahi had earlier announced his intention to contest for president on the platform of his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.

Umahi disclosed his intention to journalists on Tuesday, January 11, after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Ebonyi governor made the announcement 24 hours after the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, declared his interest in the 2023 presidency.

Governor Umahi says Ebonyi state will not be part of Biafra

Meanwhile, Governor Umahi has declared that Ebonyi state will never be part of the proposed Biafra nation by the Indigenous People of Biafra.

According to Governor Umahi, Ebonyi state was better in a fair and equitable Nigeria.

He made the statement at the Ecumenical Centre, Abakaliki, on Thursday, January 13 during a reception organised for him after declaring his presidential bid, in Abuja.

Source: Legit.ng