Southeast voted Peter Obi in 2023 but will reward Tinubu in 2027 — Umahi

Nigeria’s Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said the Southeast’s overwhelming support for Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election was driven by anger over years of marginalisation but predicted that the region would respond differently in 2027 because of President Bola Tinubu’s treatment of the zone.

Speaking in an interview with ARISE News’ Morning Show monitored on Friday in Abuja, Umahi described the Southeast’s 2023 voting pattern as an “accident of history”, arguing that voters were expressing dissatisfaction with how the region had been treated under the previous administration.

“In 2023, it was an accident of history. It was a demonstration of the anger of the people of South East on how they were treated,” Umahi said.

The minister said the region had legitimate reasons to feel aggrieved at the time, citing what he described as inadequate federal appointments and limited infrastructure development.

“We’ve been marginalised in the past, but it’s no longer so,” he said.

He argued that Tinubu had changed the political equation through increased infrastructure investment and strategic appointments for the Southeast.

According to him, the appointment of an Igbo man as minister of works for the first time was proof of the President’s commitment to fairness.

“In 2023, the previous administration treated the South-East unfairly, with few meaningful appointments and limited infrastructure development. Today, things have changed. Although we may not be leading in infrastructure development, we are no longer left behind. For the first time, an Igbo man has become Minister of Works, and through the President’s commitment to fairness, the South-East is receiving its fair share of development,” Umahi said.

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He predicted that voters in the region would acknowledge the gesture when they return to the polls in 2027.

“If in 2023 they demonstrated their anger, in 2027 they are going to demonstrate their joy on how the President has treated them,” he said.

Umahi maintained that the Southeast would “pay the President” for what he described as Tinubu’s commitment to the region, particularly through major federal road projects and other ongoing investments.

He said the political environment had changed significantly since 2023, with serving and former governors, traditional rulers and other influential figures across the Southeast increasingly aligning with Tinubu.

The minister said voters would be reluctant to abandon tangible infrastructure gains in favour of another political “gamble”.

He rejected suggestions that supporting Tinubu amounted to a betrayal of the Southeast or Obi, arguing that the region’s political interests should not be permanently tied to one candidate.

Umahi also criticised social media supporters who attack Southeast leaders for backing Tinubu, saying such insults were counterproductive and would not advance Obi’s political interests or those of the region.

He said the Southeast’s long-term interests, including its aspiration to produce a president, required engagement and negotiation with other parts of Nigeria.

According to him, Tinubu’s record in the Southeast would ultimately determine the region’s voting pattern in 2027, rather than the pattern observed four years earlier.

Asked whether he believed Tinubu would defeat Obi in the Southeast in 2027, Umahi was emphatic.

“Why do you say I believe? That is what is going to happen!” he responded.