Dave Umahi , the Minister of Works has urged the South east to support President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for second term, saying those who are aspiring to contest in 2027 should shelve their ambition.
The minister said there are eminent persons from the region who are capable of ruling the country, but stated that they should wait until Tinubu competed two-terms in 2032.
Among the presidential hopeful from the region is Peter Obi, the 2023 Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, a key opposition leader in the country.
He came third in the 2023 election behind President Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Umahi however said there are better presidential candidates from the region than Obi, who, according to watchers of the nation’s politics said is gearing up to contest the highest office in the country for a second time.
He said 2032 will be a good opportunity for aspirants from the region to try their luck, because it’s not yet the “turn” of the south east.
“No, it is not our time; it is not the time of South-East yet. We, the 17 Southern governors, went to Asaba before 2023, and we went to say, listen, it doesn’t matter the political party, but the next president should come from the South.
“All of us tried, but the crown came upon President Bola Tinubu. He is from the South, and so, it is wrong for the Southeast to come and say, Oh, it is their turn.
“No, he (Tinubu) has to finish the eight years. The eight years he took is for all of us, both the South and the North. So he has to finish, and when he has finished in 2031, the south-east can now vie, in the sense that they have never tasted the position before.
“The North-East too can vie in the sense that they have not tasted the position before. I believe strongly that when equity and fairness are established, equity and rotation will become a thing of joy.
“So for me, it is not the time (of the south-east). And when the time comes, we have sons and daughters that are eminently qualified (to contest for president),” he said.
The magazine reported that Umahi recently came under strong criticisms from not a few Nigerians after he clashed with an Arise Television journalist, Rufai Oseni who asked him to give the cost per kilometer of the multi-trillion Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
He’s a close ally of incumbent President Tinubu.
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