Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has urged people in the South-East to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election bid in the 2027 general elections and stop complaining about marginalisation.
Umahi said Tinubu had already secured victory in the election, insisting that nothing would prevent him from winning.
The minister spoke on Friday while inspecting the Nkwelle-Ezunaka flyover linking about four communities from the Second Niger Bridge to the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway in Anambra State.
Umahi said he would continue to speak about the need for the South-East to support the Tinubu administration, regardless of criticism directed at him.
‘Some of our people like shouting marginalisation. Nobody is marginalising us; rather, we are our own problem. The South-East must vote for Mr President. I don’t care if you insult me. We want the progress in the South-East to continue.
‘We have to show gratitude to Tinubu. This is the first time in the history of this region that the Igbo are benefiting like this from the Federal Government.
‘If you continue insulting the President, it will not stop him from winning in 2027. I will continue to educate our people. Our brother will never win with this ethnic politics of hate, blackmail and name-calling.
‘Anambra State is a strong base for Mr President because progressives are working together. So, Tinubu will win the 2027 presidential election,’ Umahi said.
The minister attributed some of the road challenges in the South-East to what he described as neglect by previous administrations, saying the Tinubu administration was addressing the situation through ongoing infrastructure projects.
He also criticised what he described as the tendency of some social media groups to raise alarms over minor issues, attributing it to what he called ‘myopic politics’.
The Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement, Chioma Nweze, and the Acting Controller of the Federal Ministry of Works in Anambra State, Timothy Emenike, commended Tinubu and Umahi for projects being executed in the region.
They, however, appealed to the President to direct the release of more funds to complete ongoing projects, including the flyover.
Nweze said members of the public and community leaders had a responsibility to protect federal infrastructure from vandalism.
She said, ‘Criminal justice gives us the right to arrest and not to detain those vandalising Federal Government projects, but when we arrest them, we hand them over to the police for prosecution.’
The Anambra State Commissioner for Works, Okey Ezeobi, who accompanied the minister during the inspection, also commended Tinubu and Umahi for projects in the state and the wider South-East.
Ezeobi said the projects demonstrated the benefits of cooperation between the Federal Government and the state, adding that Governor Chukwuma Soludo and Tinubu had an alliance ahead of the 2027 elections.