2027 Poll: Umahi Dismisses ‘Obedient’ Label, Says Ebonyi Will Endorse Tinubu

Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said Ebonyi State will formally adopt President Bola Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for the 2027 general election.

Umahi made the declaration on Saturday in Abakaliki while speaking with a delegation of editors and journalists during an inspection tour of federal and state projects across the South-East.

According to him, the planned endorsement reflects what he described as growing appreciation among people of the region for the Tinubu administration and ongoing infrastructure development.

He said the endorsement would be carried out on Monday under the leadership of the Ebonyi State Governor.

“When we talk about the gains of the people of the South-East under President Bola Tinubu, some people who do not understand what we are talking about continue to demarket us,” Umahi said.

“But the South-East people are very appreciative of President Bola Tinubu, and by Monday, under the leadership of the Governor of Ebonyi State, we are going to demonstrate it when we adopt the President as our sole candidate.”

Umahi also dismissed suggestions that Ebonyi aligns with the political movement popularly associated with former presidential candidate Peter Obi.

“And let it be known that Ebonyi State is not ‘Obedient’ because we want to catch up with the rest of the country and we will never be ‘Obedient’. What happened before was an accident of history. It will not repeat itself,” he stated.

Responding to concerns over alleged abandoned federal government projects in the South-East, the minister defended the administration’s infrastructure record, highlighting several ongoing projects across the region.

He pointed to major road projects connecting strategic economic corridors, including sections linked to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and other federal road interventions.

According to him, several projects worth hundreds of billions of naira are ongoing across Ebonyi and neighbouring states, contrary to claims of neglect.

Umahi further argued that previous administrations paid limited attention to infrastructure development in Ebonyi.

“In the past, Ebonyi never had any federal project. I was party chairman for five years, deputy governor for four years and governor for eight years; I never saw any federal government project in Ebonyi State,” he said.

He maintained that the scale of ongoing federal interventions explains the state’s support for Tinubu’s administration ahead of the 2027 election.