What a friend lectured as the staying power in Nigeria’s politics easily comes to mind any time any politician literally dances naked in dramatizing the indispensability of the President. It is nothing other than to be seen as loyal, no matter what it takes and how it is demonstrated. Suspicion of disloyalty, by facts or perception, can be fatal, according to him. But to be considered loyal is all that is required for advancement and all that come with it. When, therefore, you see a politician, especially an appointee, shouting himself hoarse in praising the President or governor, he is only trying to keep his job and remain relevant. In Nigeria, politicians are like street hawkers who thrive on traffic. Their fidelity is attached to where their stomachs are nourished at a material time.
That is the safest way to understand the head boy antics of the minister of works, David Umahi, in his assertion that all the five governors of the South East, regardless of political affiliation, are supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration ahead of the 2027 general election. In his estimation, past grievances over marginalisation in the region were being addressed by Tinubu. “Before, Ebonyi lacked federal presence. Today, at least four projects are ongoing there. We now have a minister of works from the South East for the first time. Enugu to Abakaliki, Port Harcourt to Enugu, Onitsha to Owerri—all are under construction”, he listed as parts of the messianic feats by Tinubu.
Umahi disclosed plans for a South East summit to formally endorse Tinubu for re-election in 2027. “All the governors are on board. We’re organising a summit of South East leaders to endorse the President. We want our projects completed, national unity strengthened and full integration of Ndi Igbo,” he stated. For effect, the minister urged Labour Party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, to join the effort, saying the region is witnessing unprecedented federal infrastructure development under Tinubu.
Umahi understands his game and he is playing it well. Politics in contemporary Nigeria is about positioning and grandstanding. Those that shout loudest are the ones that commandeer attention. By advertising the assurance of the support of the governors for Tinubu’s second term, he is making a huge investment in retaining his job or getting a similar premium-grade ministry. Never mind the quixotic concealment of the ambition with the facile posture of advancing Igbo interest, it is all about what comes to David Nweze Umahi! The former governor, of course, understands the power of blackmail and name dropping. He is making maximum gains of the situation. Many governors in the country, especially in the geographical south, seeking re-election, seem to see in the open support for Tinubu an assurance for retaining their positions in 2027. To be clear, the endorsement is not by conviction but in deference to the perceived grip the President has on the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the courts, which can be deployed against any of them considered recalcitrant.
That was what basically informed Delta State governor, Sheriff Oborevwori, and other elected officials of the state defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), recently. Other PDP governors, including Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, and his Akwa Ibom State counterpart, Umo Eno, are also rumoured to be on the queue for the crossover to support Tinubu. It will not come as a surprise for the governors in the South East doing the same. In line with this fear, Anambra State governor, Professor Charles Soludo, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), has proclaimed the President as his candidate for the 2027 election, with a pledge to deliver the state in his favour. Soludo, who is seeking re-election on the ticket of APGA, needed to make the panicky declaration as collateral for free poll in the November 8 governorship election in his state.
Imo State governor, Hope Uzodimma, and his Ebonyi counterpart, Francis Nwifuru, are already for Tinubu. Of course, it has not been lost on Uzodimma how he was leapfrogged from a distant fourth position to the Government House in 2020. This is payback time for the bizarre favour. For Governors Alex Otti (Abia) and Peter Mbah of Enugu, there is an extent they would be expected to stand aloof to the tide of the time and get re-elected, given the heavily compromised INEC that currently supervises our elections. These are calculations Umahi may have made. But that is where the permutations should end, ordinarily.
Politics, is not given to theorizing, according to experts. Elections in particular are practical in normal settings. For a governor or President seeking re-election, it is a referendum on his performance score sheet. It is a simple question of asking the voter if his life had been better within the period the candidate seeking re-election had been in office. If that template is applied in the South East in 2027, Tinubu does not stand much of a chance. And the likes of Umahi know it. Under Tinubu, the South East has almost been schemed out of relevance. In the organogram of states, the region only finds accommodation in the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives as the highest political office holder. In policies and programmes of the government, the zone has not fared better.
It is not enough to flaunt the Second Niger Bridge, Port Harcourt – Enugu, Onitsha – Owerri Expressways as reasons for which voters from the area should fall flat for the President. These are hackneyed projects that have been on the table of successive administrations in the land. Yes, it is good that they are being done, at last. But nothing could be bigger or smaller except by comparison. On appointments to strategic offices and positions of importance, the South East has received the least attention from the President. The composition of the recently constituted Presidential Committee on the 2025 National Population and Housing Census, in which no member was picked from the South East, is in line with the disdain the President has on the people. Out of the seven members appointed to the census committee, five are from the South-West, while the remaining two are from the North Central and North-West. These are considerations that influence voting patterns. Thus, when the works minister gets unduly animated by some projects being executed by the government and expects the Igbo to bow in gratitude, it may be necessary to remind him of what other regions have received under Tinubu.