2027: “South-east Planning Summit To Endorse Tinubu” – Umahi

By Adesina Soyooye

“Peter Obi must be part of the South-east Summit where we’ll all endorse Tinubu for 2027”

Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, an Engineer, says that the five Governors of the South-east, irrespective of Party affiliations, are working for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu for a second term in 2027.

Umahi, a two-term Governor of Ebonyi State said more than that. He, also, disclosed that the South-east is planning a Summit where all the stakeholders in the Zone will endorse Tinubu for 2027. And, to rub it in, Umahi is inviting Peter Obi, a son of the Zone, who is most likely to contest for the Presidential seat in 2027, to the endorsement Summit for Tinubu.

Umahi said these in an upcoming documentary feature-interview to mark President Tinubu’s second year in office. He invited all those, yet undecided, in the endorsement of Tinubu, including Obi, to go ahead and join anf endorse him.

The reason, according to Umahi, is that under the Tinubu Government, the South-east has the full attention of the President in infrastructure provision. The Zone is no longer marginalized.

Said Umahi: “The Igbo man is enterprising and blessed with God-given wisdom. What Ndi Igbo seek is fairness, Nigeria that treats every Zone equally. That is what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is doing.

“Before, when I was Governor and Deputy Governor, one of our major concerns in Ebonyi State was the lack of Federal presence. But today, nobody remembers that issue anymore. Under President Tinubu, at least, four Federal projects are ongoing in Ebonyi State.

“Today, the South-east has a Minister for Works for the first time, and we’re seeing real projects – Port Harcourt to Enugu, Enugu to Abakaliki, Enugu to Onitsha, Onitsha to Owerri and the second Niger Bridge. The President has already paid 30 per cent of the cost of that bridge.

“All the Governors of the South-east, regardless of Party affiliation, are working with the President. We’re even planning a  summit to bring together all South-east leaders to endorse the President for the 2027 elections formally. We want our projects to be completed, the country’s unity to be strengthened and proper integration of Ndi Igbo.

“Leadership is not about self – it’s about the people. If someone else is already doing what you would have done for your people, support him. I call on my brother, His Excellency Peter Obi, to join us and work with Mr President.

He must be part of this Summit where we will collectively endorse President Tinubu for the 2027 election. I say it boldly: the South-east is happy with the President.”

Umahi was a two-term Governor of Ebonyi State under the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, but midway into his second term, he defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, because, according to him, the PDP was not prepared to Zone the Presidency to the South-east, an office he very much wanted to occupy. He hoped  that the PDP would Zone it to the South-east. The Party, instead, zoned it to the South. He picked the forms, but stood no chance against Tinubu in the Primaries.

However, for working for Tinubu, and publicly against Obi who contested for the Presidency under  the Labour Party, he was rewarded with the office of the Minister for Works.