The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has come under criticism for allegedly making comments considered capable of dividing the people of the South East ahead of the 2027 general election.
The Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in the Diaspora (AEISCID), in a statement by its President Worldwide, Paschal Oluchukwu, said recent comments by Umahi are capable of pitching other parts of the South East against the people of Ebonyi State.
The Minister of Works, while canvassing support for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, had asked the people of the state not to vote for the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate, Peter Obi. Umahi said Ebonyi people were not second-class citizens in Igboland that only matter during election.
However, AEISCID said that as a member of the Federal Executive Council (FEC), the Minister should be preaching “peace, unity and togetherness of every Nigerian regardless of political differences.”
The group said: “We as a socio-cultural group whose interest remains the peace, unity and progress of not only Ebonyi State but the rest of the South East and Nigeria at large wish to vehemently condemn these statements. This group, like the rest of Ndigbo and Nigerians, has since been troubled by the relentless attacks on Peter Obi and other Igbo and Ebonyi politicians by Minister Umahi for merely fulfilling their constitutional rights to seek elective offices like Umahi had done in past elections.”
Group Backs Odii, Rejects Umahi’s Position
The group also faulted the former governor’s stance that he would talk to the NDC Ebonyi State Governorship Candidate, Ifeanyi Odii, to withdraw from the gubernatorial contest, as it is allegedly not the turn of Ebonyi South to produce the governor.
It asked the NDC candidate to continue with his campaign for the February 6, 2027 contest. The group said it is the people of the state that would determine who governs them from May 29, 2027.
“Odii should rather continue to provide alternative ideas to Ebonyi people while we urge Ebonyi voters to continue to support and vote for him in the 2027 governorship elections as they, not Umahi, would be the ultimate deciders of the election and their future,” the group stated.
The statement adds to tensions within the South East ahead of the 2027 general election – a region which alleges political and economic marginalisation, but where elitist interests tend to clash between regional loyalty and individual or group political interests.
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