2027: Not yet Southeast’s turn – Umahi

The Minister of Works, David Umahi, says it is not yet the turn of the Southeast to produce the next president, urging the region to exercise patience in its quest for Nigeria’s presidency.

Umahi made this statement in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.

The Minister stressed the need for political fairness and continuity in 2027.

“No, it is not our time; it is not the time of the South-East yet. We the 17 Southern governors went to Asaba before 2023 and we went to say, listen, it doesn’t matter the political party, but the next president should come from the South.

“All of us tried but the crown came upon President Bola Tinubu. He is from the South and so, it is wrong for the south-east to come and say, oh, it is their turn.

“No, he (Tinubu) has to finish the eight years. The eight years he took is for all of us, both the South and the North. So he has to finish, and when he has finished in 2031, the south-east now can vie, in the sense that they have never tasted the position before,” he said.

The former Ebonyi State governor further explained that there are people ‘very eminently qualified and better’ than those who are clamouring for it now.

While admitting that the Southeast had suffered some measure of marginalisation in the past, Umahi said that was the reason it was very difficult for some governors like him to deliver the zone for All Progressives Congress, APC, during the 2023 general elections.