Minister of Works, David Umahi, has said that the South-East zone must exercise patience in its quest for Nigeria’s presidency, declaring that it is not yet its turn to produce the country’s next leader.
Umahi stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Sunday in Abuja.
He emphasised the need for political fairness and continuity in 2027, referencing the good works that President Bola Tinubu had been doing since his assumption of office in 2023.
“No, it is not our time; it is not the time of South-East yet. We, the 17 Southern governors, went to Asaba before 2023, and we went to say, listen, it doesn’t matter the political party, but the next president should come from the South.
All of us tried, but the crown came upon President Bola Tinubu. He is from the South, and so, it is wrong for the Southeast to come and say, Oh, it is their turn.
“No, he (Tinubu) has to finish the eight years. The eight years he took are for all of us, both the South and the North. So he has to finish, and when he has finished in 2031, the south-east can now vie, in the sense that they have never tasted the position before.
“The North-East too can vie in the sense that they have not tasted the position before. I believe strongly that it is when equity and fairness have been established that equity and rotation will become a thing of joy.
So for me, it is not the time (of the south-east). And when the time comes, we have sons and daughters that are eminently qualified (to contest for president),” he said.
According to Umahi, there are people who are very eminently qualified and better than those who are clamouring for it now.
The minister, however, admitted that the south-east had suffered some measure of marginalisation in the past, stating that that was why it was very difficult for some governors like him to deliver the zone for All Progressives Congress (APC) during the 2023 general elections.
NAN reports that APC performed poorly in 2023 in the south-east, with the entire zone delivering a paltry 5.85 of the entire votes in the zone to party.
Umahi attributed the situation to what he called unfair treatment of the South-East people in the past.
“But right now, President Bola Tinubu does not want to know where you come from. He is treating everybody very nicely.
“The southeast might say they did not get a lot of appointments, but the position of the Minister of Works is equivalent to five grade A ministers.
The question is that there was a time we (southeast) had all sorts of appointments. Did it translate into infrastructure development? The answer is No.
“But if it is only one or two or three or four or five that we have now, and we are doing over N350 billion projects from Enugu to Onitsha by this president. MTN, N202 billion; and then CBC, N150 billion.
