By Suleiman Anyalewechi
For the umpteenth time, Engr David Nwaeze Umahi, the Minister of Works, has said it is not yet time for his Igbo kits and Kin to aspire to govern Nigeria at the highest level-
Peter Obi, a former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party Presidential Candidate in the 2023 General Elections, Umahi insisted, should be so told in a clear and unmistakable terms to bury his ambition of contesting for the country’s topmost job in 2027 and back the second term bid of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Speaking during an assessment tour of the reconstruction of the Aba end of the Enugu/Port Harcourt Expressway, Umahi the immediate past Governor of Ebonyi state, expressed serious fears that Obi’s insistence on vying for the Presidency could have disastrous consequences for Ndigbo and South East region.
The Source reports that Obi, who commands a significant following in contemporary Nigeria’s democratic arrangement through his people-centred and vocal Obidient Movement, has signaled his unflinching commitment and intention to be on the ballot come 2027.
The former LP Presidential flag bearer who is among some prominent political figures behind the emerging opposition Coalition platform the African Democratic Congress, ADC, has also sworn never to be a running mate to anybody in the count down to the 2027 presidential race.
However, Umahi said rather than throwing his hat into the ring, Obi, who is widely perceived as the candidate to beat should subordinate his ambition to a wider South East strategic political blueprint aimed at supporting President Tinubu for a second tenure.
According to the Minister of Works, the president having erased the nightmarish word “marginalization” from the memory of Ndigbo through intentional integration of South Easterners into mainstream governance, deserved to be appreciated and his gestures reciprocated by the people of the region.
“Unless we are not telling ourselves the truth, there is no more marginalization in the South East”, the Works Minister said.
Citing his appointment as the first and only Nigeria’s Minister of Works of Igbo extraction, as well as an avalanche of Federal Government ongoing projects
and infrastructural facilities in the South East, Umahi explained that it will not augur well for the interest of the region should Obi insist on contesting for the presidency in 2027.
“Before now, the region had never had the opportunity to be appointed to the position of Minister of Works. It is time for the South East to be strategic, and support President Tinubu. We should tell our brother Peter Obi that it is not yet our turn to be president of Nigeria.
“To have given the South East the Minister of Works portfolio, President Tinubu has shown interest and respect for the region. Before now, the region had never occupied the position.
“You can, therefore, see the intention and good heart of the President. So, I believe that the time is now ripe for us to reciprocate his gestures.
“We should not engage in sentiments. We should not engage in non-strategic moves ahead of the 2027 polls.
“We should be bold and sincere enough to tell our brother, Peter Obi that it is not yet our turn. When it is our turn, Nigerians and South Easterners will know that it is truly our turn,
” Never in the history of Nigeria have we, the South East region, benefited so much in terms of Federal Government-backed development projects ,and infrastructural facilities.
” I was a Deputy Governor, and then Governor for eight years, no single Federal Government project came to Ebonyi state throughout the period.
But today, Ebonyi can boast of a number of Federal Government projects that are ongoing. We can boast of trillions of Naira projects ongoing in the South East region just like in other regions of the country” Umahi noted.
He, however, expressed serious concern that these ongoing projects and developmental strides already made may suffer abandonment should President Tinubu not be returned for a second term in office.
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