The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has rallied the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), traditional rulers and stakeholders in Ebonyi State to openly support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Francis Nwifuru ahead of the 2027 general election.
Umahi, who spoke on Sunday in Abakaliki, the state capital, during a town hall meeting organised by the Directorate of Infrastructure, Mobilisation and Sensitisation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), said religious and traditional leaders should not sit on the fence.
According to him, leaders in other zones are not sitting on the fence.
‘I want to tell our religious leaders and Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), do not stay on the fence. I know when I was struggling to be governor, CAN took a decision and said justice must prevail. CAN don’t keep quiet, let us toe the path that must sustain our freedom.
‘Traditional fathers, do not stay on the fence, religious leaders, do not stay on the fence. Our people in the North do not, our people in the South-West, they do not. Guide our people, let them know what,’ he said.
The Minister declared that there is no presidential candidate in the South-East in the 2027 election, dismissing the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Mr Peter Obi, from the zone as ‘nobody.’
He said Obi was not better than some prominent persons in Ebonyi, including himself, former Senate President, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, former Minister of Education, Senator Sam Egwu, and former Chairman of the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), Chief Elias Mbam.
Umahi urged the people of the state and the South-East to deliver President Tinubu in 2027 to be able to lay claim to the presidency when it is their turn.
‘There is no way an Igbo man after staying for 60 years will want to be president for four years. There is nobody that can accept that. The North has not accepted to be president for four years.
‘An Igbo man needs wisdom, not sentiments. Today, our people in commerce, we clear our goods with ease. Today, our roads are being revived in the path of economic activities.
‘Today, we can boldly say we have been integrated. The last time they were choosing service chiefs, it was Naval Chief. This time, it is Chief of Air Staff, Minister of Works, other ministers, SSAs, what else? When I say South-East has been fully integrated and included, I mean it,’ he stated.
He added: ‘We are supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to finish his remaining four years so that the South-East would have strategically supported another region. So that when it is our turn, we will not get this thing by hate speeches, they will not give to us by sentiments. It is strategic.’
The former Governor boasted that Ebonyi will deliver 1.3 million votes out of its 1.8 million registered voters for Tinubu and Nwifuru.
‘We have 1.8 million registered voters in Ebonyi State. Let me tell you, if we are not donating 1.3 million votes for the President, for the Governor, we are doing ourselves disservice,’ Umahi said.
He said he cannot sit and watch another party produce a governor in the state, describing those who think they can defeat Governor Nwifuru as jokers.