The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Enugu State has said that the South-East will not support President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, despite alleged threats that the region may lose federal infrastructure projects if it doesn’t vote for him.
The party dared the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to “do his worst,” stressing that no amount of intimidation or political pressure would make the people of the zone support Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The ADC was reacting to comments allegedly made by Umahi while inspecting federal road and bridge projects in Ebonyi State.
The minister was reported to have called on the South-East to support Tinubu in 2027 or lose ongoing projects from the federal government.
The Enugu State Secretary of the ADC, Adolphus Ude, in a statement described the comments credited to Umahi as “reckless, irresponsible and unacceptable.”
Ude, a former founding Deputy Chairman of the All Progressives Congress in Enugu State, accused the minister of trying to blackmail the South-East into supporting Tinubu.
He says the region’s people are politically independent and cannot be forced to vote for any candidate against their will.
He said Umahi’s alleged comment was a case of talking down on the people of the South-East.
“Umahi should mention the major infrastructure projects being executed by the Tinubu government in the South-East and state their locations and value,” the ADC chieftain said.
Ude also took Umahi’s claim that the Tinubu administration had tackled the marginalisation of the South-East to task.
He said the exclusion of the region had worsened under the current Federal Government.
He alleged that the South-East has not benefitted from the flagship infrastructure projects of the administration such as the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and Sokoto-Badagry Highway.
He said most of the projects being cited by Umahi were inherited from previous administrations, and could not be presented as new achievements of the Tinubu government in the region.
Ude said there’s no major new federal infrastructure project happening in the South-East at this time.
“The long-awaited dredging of the River Niger is not going on, and the South-East still has no rail line,” he added. So, what projects are in danger?
The ADC secretary also alleged that the Tinubu administration had continued to marginalise the South-East as the most marginalised geopolitical zone.
“Three of the five ministers from the region in the Federal Executive Council are Ministers of State.
Ude also alleged that passport issuing machines had been deactivated across the South-East, forcing residents of the region to travel to Abuja for international passports.
He argued that the region has not enjoyed the kind of federal attention that would warrant Umahi’s call for political support.
He said development projects were not a favour to any region but a constitutional responsibility of the Federal Government.
ADC: South East Owes No Loyalty to Tinubu
Ude said the South-East owed no political loyalty to Tinubu, recalling that the President lost the five states of the region in the 2023 presidential election.
There is nothing that has changed since then to make a difference in the mood of the people politically in the run-up to the 2027 polls,” said.
The ADC chieftain said the people of the South-East would decide based on governance, fairness, inclusion and performance and not on threats from any political office holder.
He said no minister had the right to intimidate a region over projects funded with public resources.
Ude urged Umahi to withdraw the alleged threat and apologise to Ndigbo.
The minister should cease portraying federal projects as political rewards for loyalty to the ruling party, he said.
The secretary of the ADC added that the South-East would not be blackmailed into supporting any candidate in 2027.
He said the people of the region would continue to demand equity, justice and genuine development from the Federal Government irrespective of their voting pattern.410
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