Minister of Works, David Umahi, has launched a fresh attack on the presidential ambition of former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi, urging voters in Ebonyi State to reject him at the 2027 presidential election.
Umahi made the call in a video currently circulating online, in which he questioned Obi’s relationship with Ebonyi people and challenged the former Anambra governor to identify an indigene of the state he appointed during his tenure.
The former Ebonyi governor also accused Obi of failing to speak up over the removal of the name “Abakaliki Street”, a development he said amounted to disrespect for the people of Ebonyi.
“When you were a governor, give me one Ebonyi person that you gave an appointment. When they removed Abakaliki Street that had been there for over fifty years, you said nothing,” Umahi said.
He accused political actors of invoking South-East solidarity when seeking votes from Ebonyi people while allegedly treating the state differently on other issues.
“It’s only when it comes to votes that they say we Ebonyi people are one with other states in the South-East. But when it comes to insulting us, they insult us. We are not second-class citizens. We are proud Ebonyi people,” he said.
Umahi then urged Ebonyi voters to deploy their ballots as a means of resisting what he described as political and social marginalisation within the Igbo-speaking South-East.
“Use your votes to fight. We will not go back to Egypt. We say no to second colonisation. God has freed us. We have a state of our own,” he declared.
He further linked his position to Ebonyi’s 30th anniversary as a state, arguing that the people should protect the political autonomy they gained through state creation.
“We are celebrating 30 years of freedom and nobody will take us back. What happened before was an accident of history. It will not repeat itself. Now you know better,” Umahi said.
