The Minister of Works, David Umahi, has described opposition elements championing a coalition against President Bola Tinubu in 2027 as faceless and lacking credibility.
According to him, the President’s accomplishments in governance and national integration strategy are sufficient to return him to Aso Rock by 2027.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Labour Party’s Peter Obi, former Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai, and other leaders have discussed forming a coalition to unseat Tinubu and the current All Progressives Congress in 2027.
Other alliance leaders include Babachir Lawal, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, and Salihu Lukman, former National Vice Chairman (North West) of the APC, among others.
Umahi, speaking in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, during the Muslim community’s 2025 Sallah festival, said Tinubu had provided great leadership to Nigerians and earned a second term.
He asked the South-East region to unify behind the President, praising him for correcting years of federal neglect in the area.
He said, “Before now, many South-East states had no federal projects. Today, the federal presence is visible across the region. That is what true national integration looks like.”
He praised the President for assigning people from the South-East zone to key posts in government, including himself as Minister of Works, Chief of Naval Staff, and Minister of Science and Technology.
He praised the appointments as important milestones towards reintegrating the South-East into national administration.
“We lost political ground in the past, but this government is bringing us back. It’s not yet perfect, but we are no longer left behind. We must acknowledge that and support the President,” he added.
Umahi also called on residents of the zone to reject divisive rhetoric and embrace constructive engagement with the Federal Government.
“The South-East must count one before counting two. We need reintegration, not isolation. President Tinubu has started this process—we must not waste the opportunity,” he stated.
The minister praised Tinubu for promoting an “unprecedented level” of interfaith harmony and national unity.
He also called the president’s choice to lead a Nigerian team to the Vatican for the pope’s inauguration a “unique and historic” gesture that astonished many Christians and signaled the start of a new age of religious tolerance.
