The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has described the South-East’s overwhelming support for Peter Obi in the 2023 presidential election as an “accident of history”, attributing the voting pattern to anger over the region’s alleged marginalisation under the previous administration.
Umahi said the region’s political outlook had changed under President Bola Tinubu, citing federal infrastructure projects and appointments as reasons he believed voters would respond differently in the 2027 election.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE News published on Friday, the minister said the South-East had reasons to feel aggrieved before Tinubu assumed office.
“In 2023, it was an accident of history,” Umahi continued, “It was a demonstration of the anger of the people of South East on how they were treated.”
He added, “We’ve been marginalised in the past, but it’s no longer so.”
Umahi argued that Tinubu had changed the situation through what he described as increased federal infrastructure investments and appointments for the region.
“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.
The former Ebonyi State governor maintained that the South-East would acknowledge Tinubu’s commitment to the region, particularly through major federal road projects and other investments.
He also said serving and former governors, traditional rulers and other influential figures in the South-East were increasingly aligning with Tinubu.
Umahi argued that voters would be reluctant to abandon what he described as infrastructure gains for another political “gamble”.
The minister rejected suggestions that South-East leaders supporting Tinubu were betraying the region or Obi, arguing that the region’s political interests should not be permanently tied to one candidate.
He also criticised social media supporters who insult South-East political leaders for backing Tinubu, saying such attacks would not advance Obi’s political interests or those of the region.
Umahi maintained that the South-East needed to engage and negotiate with other parts of Nigeria if it hoped to produce a president in the future.
Asked whether he believed Tinubu would defeat Obi in the South-East in 2027, Umahi responded, “Why do you say I believe? That is what is going to happen!”
The minister insisted that the circumstances that shaped the region’s voting pattern in 2023 had fundamentally changed.