• Says president has addressed region’s marginalisation
Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja
Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu can secure all five existing states in the South-east in the 2027 presidential election, arguing that the administration has addressed the marginalisation which influenced the region’s rejection of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.
Umahi, a former governor of Ebonyi State, also dismissed the presidential aspiration of Peter Obi as a major threat to Tinubu’s re-election bid, although he acknowledged that the former Anambra State governor remained a significant political figure.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, Umahi said the political situation in the South-east had changed considerably since the 2023 election, when Obi, then the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, won all five states in the region.
He argued that the outcome of that election should be viewed against the backdrop of what he described as the poor treatment of the region under the previous administration.
“I will not blame the South-east in the last election because, virtually, we were not fairly treated by the past administration. Service chiefs, we got none; major ministerial portfolios, we got none. And so the marginalisation continued, and they even increased at that point. And so you will not totally blame them for that,” Umahi said.
According to him, the Tinubu administration has deliberately changed that situation through political appointments and what he described as greater inclusion of the region in the affairs of the federal government.
“But now, the story is totally different. I’m the Minister of Works; we have never had a Minister of Works before. We have a Minister of Foreign Affairs; we have a Minister of Science and Industry. We are very happy with the appointments we’ve got. They’re very happy. Now, we have done quite a lot,” he said.
Umahi said the administration’s engagement with the region, rather than political rhetoric, would determine how voters respond to the APC in 2027.
He dismissed the suggestion that Obi constituted a major obstacle to Tinubu’s re-election prospects in the region, pointing out that several other South-east politicians were also positioning themselves for the presidency.
“By the way it is not only Peter Obi that is from the South-East that is contesting. We have about three or four other presidential candidates who are contesting,” Umahi said.
“We have the Labour Party and I think there are other two, even a woman is involved. So, Peter Obi is not a threat as far as I am concerned.”
He, however, said the APC would not take Obi’s political influence for granted, noting that the former Anambra governor remained one of the prominent figures from the region.
Beyond appointments and federal projects, Umahi also disclosed that discussions around the creation of an additional state in the South-east were ongoing.
He said efforts to secure a sixth state for the region were “a work in progress”, stressing that the demand was based on what he described as the principle of equity.
“The South-east is not asking for treatment better than others. We just want to be fairly treated, and I want to thank the National Assembly. We are talking about getting the 6th state in the South-east. It’s a work in progress. It’s also what we are telling our people because equity demands that we should have what other people have,” he said.
He said the administration had taken the entire country as “one united family”, arguing that the South-east would increasingly recognise the difference between the current administration and its predecessor as the 2027 election approaches.