Minister of Works, David Umahi, has declared that Ebonyi State and the wider Southeast region are not “Obidient,” insisting that residents will repay President Bola Ahmed Tinubu with their votes for his developmental strides.
Umahi, a former governor of Ebonyi, made the remarks at the weekend in Abakaliki during the Iri Ji Festival of the OHANIVO General Assembly.
“Let me use this opportunity to appreciate our dear President; I am addressing the Southeast people. I am addressing those who don’t understand what’s going on in the Southeast. I am addressing those who have occupied social media. I have told them that Ebonyi State and we are not ‘Obedient people’. We have been so marginalised and we are no longer ‘Obidient’,” Umahi said.
He added: “But it is the man that has given us a sense of belonging – President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Let no Obidient come to Ebonyi State and say this state belongs to Obidients. There is no ‘Obedient’ person in Ebonyi State.”
The minister stressed that the Southeast would not repeat what he described as past political mistakes. “What we have is to return the good things that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done for the Southeast and for Ebonyi State when the time comes. We will not be deceived again. The last election was a mistake, but we have become wiser,” he declared.
Highlighting Tinubu’s infrastructural interventions, Umahi cited projects such as the legacy road linking Cross River State to Ndibe Beach, Afikpo, Abomege, Ezza South, Ezza North, Ishielu, and Benue State.
“I will not be able to name all that President Tinubu is doing for us, but you see the legacy projects. President Tinubu only deserves our payback. Those who refuse to hear, they will hear us. We want to be a part of the United Nigeria. We want to be treated fairly. We want to be counted, and the President is doing that. So, we have no reason not to support him,” he added.
Umahi also drummed support for Governor Francis Nwifuru, assuring the people that his performance would guarantee a second term. “Nothing will stop his second term because God has already endorsed it. Anyone fighting him is only struggling on social media,” he said.
At the event, communities in Ebonyi South Senatorial District, under the OHANIVO General Assembly, declared their support for the second-term ambitions of both President Tinubu and Governor Nwifuru.
Leaders from Ohaozara, Onicha, and Ivo local government areas said their endorsement was based on fairness, inclusiveness, and development. They also hailed Nwifuru’s implementation of the ‘People’s Charter of Needs’, which they noted had positively impacted every part of the state.
