2027: Tinubu will be victorious in all five South-East states – Umahi

Minister of Works, David Umahi, has expressed confidence that President Bola Tinubu will secure victory in all five states of the South-East during the 2027 presidential election.

Umahi made the prediction while appearing on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, where he also urged people in the region to move away from what he described as regional politics.

According to the minister, Tinubu is positioned to receive significant support from voters across the South-East.

“The president is going to harvest a lot of votes in the South-East,” Umahi said.

He added, “My faith is telling me we will win the five states. I’m working for it. I’m explaining to our people.”

Umahi also appealed to residents of the region to embrace broader national engagement rather than restricting their political choices along regional lines.

“We shouldn’t play regional politics. It doesn’t help us. As a region, we should be able to, you know, have a handshake across the nation,” he said.

The All Progressives Congress currently controls Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi states, while Abia is governed by the Labour Party and Anambra by the All Progressives Grand Alliance.

Speaking on the relationship between the South-East and the federal government, Umahi said the region had suffered what he described as marginalisation under former President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said the South-East had previously been left out of major government positions, including key security and ministerial appointments.

“Service chiefs, we got none. Major ministerial portfolio, we got none. And so the marginalisation continued and even increased at that point,” the minister said.

Umahi, who served as governor of Ebonyi State before becoming a federal minister, said the situation had changed under Tinubu.

“But now, the story is totally different. I’m a minister of works. We never had a minister of works before. We have a minister of foreign affairs.

“We have a minister of science and industry. We are very happy with the appointments we’ve gotten. We are very happy,” he said.

The minister said Tinubu had brought the South-East closer to the centre of federal decision-making and maintained that the region was not demanding special treatment.

According to him, the demand from the South-East is for fairness in the allocation of political appointments, resources and infrastructure.

“We just want to be fairly treated. And I want to thank the National Assembly. We are talking about getting the sixth state in the South-East. It’s a work in progress,” Umahi said.

He also highlighted infrastructure projects in the region, recalling that during his eight years as governor, he did not see a federal government road or bridge project coming to the South-East.

“But in terms of infrastructure, I told you that as governor for eight years, there was no federal government route or bridge that came to the South-East. But look at the legacy project of the president,” he added.