APC to Win all Five Southeast States — Dave Umahi
APC to Win all Five Southeast States — Dave Umahi
Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has said his faith is telling him that President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) can win all five states in the Southeast in the 2027 presidential election.
Umahi made the statement during an interview with Channels Television journalist Seun Okinbaloye, where he spoke about Tinubu’s chances in the Southeast, Peter Obi, regional politics and the possibility of opposition parties uniting against the president.
Asked whether he believed the people of the Southeast think the Tinubu administration had delivered enough to attract votes and win the five states in the region, Umahi said he would not say whether the APC would win all five states.
However, he said Tinubu was going to “harvest a lot of votes” in the Southeast and that it could “never be the same” as it was before.
When asked directly how many states he believed his party could win in the Southeast, Umahi replied: “My faith is telling me we win the five states.”
When the journalist reminded him about the biblical statement concerning faith without work, Umahi responded: “I’m working for it. I’m explaining to our people.”
The minister also called on the Southeast to move away from regional politics, saying the region should be able to “have a handshake across Nigeria.”
Umahi acknowledged that the Southeast had historically been Republican in its political nature but said the region had to change.
He referred to former Nigerian leaders Nnamdi Azikiwe and Michael Okpara, saying: “Azikiwe did not do that. MK Okpara did not do that. So we have to change.”
On Peter Obi, Umahi rejected the suggestion that he was always on edge whenever Obi’s name was mentioned.
“No, he’s my brother and my friend,” Umahi said.
The journalist then asked whether Umahi’s repeated comments about Obi showed that he genuinely feared the threat Obi posed to the APC in the Southeast.
Umahi dismissed the suggestion, explaining that his position on integrating the Southeast into the mainstream of Nigeria had never changed.
He recalled that while he was governor of Ebonyi State and chairman of the Southeast Governors Forum, he publicly asked the Southeast to give former President Muhammadu Buhari 25 percent, while giving Atiku Abubakar 75 percent in his state.
“My position has not changed,” Umahi said.
He also pointed out that Peter Obi was not the only person from the Southeast contesting for president, saying there were about three or four other presidential candidates from the region, including a woman.
“Peter Obi is not a threat,” Umahi said, adding that Obi was “not a threat to me, as far as I’m concerned.”
Asked whether Obi was a threat to his party and President Bola Tinubu, Umahi responded: “No, it’s not.”
When the journalist suggested that he was underestimating Obi, Umahi asked: “Why should I underestimate him?”
Umahi said Obi was talking about what he would do, while the APC was talking about what it was doing.
“Talk is cheap,” the minister said.
He then challenged politicians who say they want to rule Nigeria to show what they did to develop their communities when they occupied positions of authority.
Umahi compared his record as governor of Ebonyi State with Peter Obi’s record as governor of Anambra State.
“We’re talking about the performance of Peter Obi in Anambra State. Is that not enough to show?” he asked.
Umahi said he did not want to talk about Obi but asked people to compare Agulu, Obi’s village, with Uburu, his own community.
“I built the best university teaching hospital in this country. I did. My airport is one of the best,” Umahi said.
He insisted that when people talk about performance, his own record does not require people to simply believe him because there is evidence that can be verified.
“My own is not go and verify. You have evidences of what I did,” he said.
On the reported “Rainbow Coalition,” the journalist asked whether Umahi was part of it.
Umahi responded: “What is Rainbow Coalition?”
He described FCT Minister Nyesom Wike as his “friend and brother,” while insisting that Ebonyi State was unique.
“Ebonyi is very unique. No Rainbow that is heading in Ebonyi State. Even if it is a rainbow or whatever they call it, there’s nothing like that,” he said.
The journalist also asked whether Umahi was worried about claims that if all the major opposition parties united behind one candidate, Bola Tinubu would be defeated.
Umahi responded: “Until they unite, and we tell you the stuff we are made of.”
He then asked whether people had checked the APC party register and the number of registered APC members.
Umahi also pointed to construction sites across different parts of the country and what he described as the intentions and love people have for some of the party’s leaders.
“So when they unite, then let us see,” the Minister of Works said.
