2027 Election: Why Peter Obi Isn't the Best Choice in the South-East, Umahi Explains
- Minister of Works David Umahi has made a striking assessment of Peter Obi's standing among South-East political figures
- Umahi argues that Obi bypassed a critical step before his 2023 presidential bid that other aspirants should not ignore
- The minister also challenged a long-held assumption about which South-East state deserves the presidency first
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Legit.ng journalist Adekunle Dada has over eight years of experience covering metro, government policy, and international issues
The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has dismissed the NDC presidential candidate, Peter Obi, as the strongest presidential contender from the South-East.
Umahi said the Labour Party's 2023 candidate lacks the standing some have attributed to him within the region.
Source: Facebook
As reported by The Punch, Umahi made the remarks during a Friday, October 23, 2026, interview on ARISE News.
He also defended South-East politicians who have aligned with President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
"Peter Obi is not the best of our finest in tSouth East. He's not the best; he can never be the best," the minister said.
Central to Umahi's criticism is what he describes as Obi's failure to consult governors and key political stakeholders in the region before pursuing his presidential ambition in 2023.
The former Ebonyi State governor argued that no aspirant claiming to represent the South-East could legitimately do so without first securing the buy-in of its established political class.
"You cannot play politics in South East without consulting people like us," Umahi said, adding that he would have done so himself had he sought the presidency. "If I were contesting, I would have consulted," he said.
He insisted the region has other qualified figures capable of pursuing the presidency and pushed back against any suggestion that Obi's 2023 performance automatically elevates him to frontrunner status for 2027.
Umahi also challenged the notion that Anambra State holds a natural claim to producing the South-East's first president.
While acknowledging that Nigeria's first President, Nnamdi Azikiwe, hailed from the area now comprising Anambra, he argued that Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia and Imo should also feature in any genuine conversation about zoning the presidency to the region.
On the broader political question, Umahi argued that South-East leaders who back Tinubu are not betraying their region.
He maintained that the path to producing a Nigerian president from the South-East runs through careful negotiation and coalition-building with other geopolitical zones, not through loyalty to a single candidate.
Source: Getty Images
2027 election: Umahi asked to apologise to Peter Obi
Meanwhile, Legit.ng also reported that the Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in the Diaspora condemned Umahi's remarks on the 2027 elections as divisive
The group accused Umahi of attacking Peter Obi and other politicians for simply exercising their constitutional rights to seek office.
AEISCID threatened legal action if Umahi failed to retract his statements within 72 hours and called on President Tinubu to intervene.
Source: Legit.ng
