•Umahi and Tinubu
Ahead of the 2027 poll, the Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in the Diaspora (AEISCID) has asked President Bola Tinubu’s administration not to take seriously the promise of the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to deliver the South-East region to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Umahi had, in an interview for an upcoming State House documentary marking Tinubu’s second anniversary, boasted that all Southeast governors are supporting President Tinubu’s administration, regardless of their political affiliations and his second-term aspiration, reports The Guardian.
Reacting to the development through a statement signed today in Abuja by its President, Pascal Oluchukwu, the Ebonyi indigenes insist that Umahi lacks the influence to sway political leaders in the zone to achieve the goal.
Expressing dismay over Umahi’s outright denial of marginalisation of the Southeast, AEISCID cited the case of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) who is being tried by the Tinubu-led government despite calls that he should be granted a state pardon, to buttress its claim.
The group argued that people of the region are yet to see any genuine commitment from leaders like Umahi to use their influence to persuade the Tinubu administration to fix the real issues affecting their people.
AEISCID claimed that a good case in point is the aloofness of leaders like Umahi and, indeed, the Southeast governors in addressing the challenges faced by Southeast candidates in the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination organised by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
The group argued that if Umahi had the interest of the Southeast at heart, he should have been addressing this growing concern on behalf of Ndigbo.
The group said, despite Umahi’s claims, the Southeast region is still plagued by critical infrastructure challenges, including deplorable road networks.
“We are aware that as a man insipidly desperate to impress his paymasters, Umahi is only interested in recouping gains and lots to be shared between him and his paymasters and not sincerely interested in actualising the many bogus projects the administration has embarked upon, such as the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway, among others.
“To further drive home our points on the high level of deceit ongoing in the guise of ‘ambitious projects’ by the Tinubu-led government using Umahi as a conduit executioner, no existing road infrastructure in the South-East region has been completed in nearly two years — from Enugu to Port Harcourt, Enugu-Onitsha, Onitsha-Owerri, Enugu to Abakaliki or Afikpo to Okigwe highways. It is visible even to the blind that work has been ongoing on some of the roads awarded for nearly two years, leaving road users struggling to use only a section of these roads.
“We recall that the above sad scenario was responsible for the Ugwu Onyeama accident in Enugu that claimed several lives.
“The last we recall on his electoral outing was his colossal loss of his Ebonyi South Senatorial zone in 2023, where, even as a sitting Governor, he couldn’t control a meagre five Local Government Areas in his Ebonyi South Senatorial district. Of course, we know how he allegedly used the influence of security agents and INEC’s top brass to be declared the winner of that Senatorial election he had manifestly lost before midday.
“In terms of political weight and influence, Tinubu ought to have known that Umahi weighs far below average. From his reckless speeches to actions and inactions both then as a governor and even now as a minister, no serious political elite in the South-East region can be easily swayed or influenced by Umahi, except, perhaps, for the few cronies he has been servicing in his home state of Ebonyi. We ask: what was his achievement as the longest-serving Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum?”
