Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, has said former Anambra State governor and presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, does not pose a threat to President Bola Tinubu and the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
Umahi made the statement during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, while noting that Obi is not the only presidential aspirant from the South-East.
“By the way it is not only Peter Obi that is from the South-East that is contesting. We have about three or four other presidential candidates who are contesting.
“We have the Labour Party and I think there are other two, even a woman is involved. So, Peter Obi is not a threat as far as I am concerned,” Umahi said.
The minister, however, said the APC was not taking Obi lightly, expressing confidence that the ruling party’s performance in office would improve its standing in the South-East.
Obi, who contested the 2023 presidential election on the platform of the Labour Party, won all five states in the South-East during that election.
With political activities ahead of the 2027 election intensifying, Umahi said he expected Tinubu to secure all the states in the region, attributing the APC’s poor performance there in 2023 to what he described as the marginalisation of the South-East by the previous administration.
“I will not blame the South-East in the last election because, virtually, we were not fairly treated by the past administration. Service chiefs, we got none; major ministerial portfolios, we got none. And so, the marginalisation continued, and they even increased at that point. And so you will not totally blame them for that,” the former Ebonyi governor said.
He argued that the situation had changed under Tinubu, citing the appointment of prominent South-East politicians into key federal positions.
“But now, the story is totally different. I’m the Minister of Works; we have never had a Minister of Works before. We have a Minister of Foreign Affairs; we have a Minister of Science and Industry. We are very happy with the appointments we’ve got. They’re very happy. Now, we have done quite a lot.”
Umahi’s comments come as political parties and presidential aspirants step up preparations for the 2027 general election.
