David Umahi, the irascible governor of Ebonyi State, is an opposite man. He likes to move against the wind. In recent weeks, he has been everywhere saying everything. From his delivery, he can easily pass as the grand master of the misguided ones. The breed he represents are both at work and at play. They are shooting into the public space with reckless abandon, causing as much irritation as they can. Their nuisance value is unmasked and unmistakable. It is just there for everyone to see.
Since the presidential election took place, Umahi has been on a binge. He has been prancing about with his head in the sky. His elation has to do with Peter Obi’s supposed loss at the February 25 polls. Umahi is head over heels in joy over this. He has congratulated Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State for working against Peter Obi. He has told us that Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State was right when he said that Obi would not win the 2023 presidential election. Above all this, Umahi has said that the outcome of the presidential election was expected. For him, Obi did not win because only the Igbo voted for him. Essentially, Umahi has been spewing hate at Obi and everything he stands for. He is overjoyed that the enemies of the people conspired to rob Obi of his victory. This makes Umahi an opposite man. He does not stand with the people.
Umahi has, as a matter of fact, been operating like a peevish schoolboy. When situations call for reason and maturity, the governor disappoints. He just talks without listening. He also does not put issues in proper perspective. That was why he saw Soludo’s hateful display against Obi as a prediction. Soludo predicted nothing. He was just blinded by bad blood. Contrary to Umahi’s presentation, Soludo did not predict that Obi would lose. Rather, Soludo swam freely in the ocean of prejudice and could not, therefore, conceal his resentment for Obi. He was stung by jealousy to the extent that he threw caution to the dogs. His was a display of hateful overdose. By his action, Soludo has shot himself in the foot. He has become a lame duck. He is now an object of ridicule and cat calls. He will face Judgment Day if he ever aspires to extend his stay in Government House, Awka, beyond one term. Is this the man Umahi is holding out and making reference to what he said? This makes Umahi and Soludo birds of the same feather.
Umahi took his prejudice to a more ridiculous level when he said that the result of the presidential election was expected. In his imagination. Obi lost because only the Igbo voted for him. You can only pity a character like this governor who is talking to Nigerians as if they have been in a slumber. The people are wide awake. They know the story of the presidential election of 2023. Umahi cannot rewrite the history they were a part of.
But did Obi lose the presidential election of February 25? The honest answer to this question is a resounding no. Obi did not lose. Rather, he won the election. Everybody, including Umahi and the interest he serves, knows that Obi won the election. That is why they have been unsettled by his decision to approach the courts to challenge the fraudulent result that was announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). In their bid to weaken Obi’s claim to victory, those who stole his mandate have recruited the likes of Umahi to spread disinformation about the outcome of the election. They have told the Umahis of Igboland to say that Obi did not win. They believe that such posturing will confer legitimacy on their thievery.
The real pity in all this is that the Ebonyi governor is playing this ignoble role to feather his own nest. He is in perpetual search for relevance. He does not get tired of sacrificing the interest of his people on the altar of his selfish, personal interest.
It is, indeed, utterly disappointing to hear Umahi say that Obi did not win because Igbos alone sought to make him President. Was that really the case? Was the Peter Obi bid for the presidency an Igbo project? Everybody knows it was not. The Obi presidential quest had a broad national appeal. That was why he won overwhelmingly across the majority of the geopolitical zones. No other candidate in the February 25 presidential election enjoyed as much national acceptance as Obi. Again, Umahi and those who recruited him know this. But he has chosen to stand fact on its head just to justify his hire.
Rather than insinuate that the Igbo played the ethnic card in the election of February 25, Umahi should engage in some introspection and ask himself why he is always an opposite man. Even if we concede to him the right to disagree with the prevailing mood in his Igbo circles, we will not lose sight of the fact that his positions are always off the mark. The governor acts like an unguarded missile. He does not have the gravitas for constructive engagement. I suspect that he suffers from an overweening complex. He feels persecuted on behalf of his Ebonyi people at all times. He is incapable of liberating his mind and freeing it from ingrained complexes. This inability to relate to or operate in a wider environment often leads him into defensive outbursts. He talks more and reflects less.
But Nigerians will not be distracted by the howling of those who do not want to say it as it is. The fact of our situation today is that Nigeria is at a historical juncture. An election held and someone was overwhelmingly accepted by Nigerian voters. But a coterie of power-grabbers had a different game plan. They did not want the man that Nigerians freely chose. They want to impose their own choice so that the blight that has kept the country down will graduate to a more frightening level. The battle is for the soul of Nigeria.
If the likes of Umahi were wise, they would stop shooting recklessly as they are doing. They should recognize and respect the fact that Obi has gone to court. His mission is to reclaim his mandate. This should not give Umahi and his employers goose pimples. They should give the courts the chance to act as independently as they can. Unlike the naysayers like Umahi, those who went to court are the people who still believe in the country and its institutions. If Obi had no confidence in the courts, he would not have gone there in the first place. Let those who want to destroy the fabric of the nation borrow a leaf from this.
Launching psychological warfare on Obi and what he stands for is escapist. It will not serve the purpose of those who have chosen to employ it as a tool.