Labour Party presidential candidate in 2023, Peter Obi, has rejected Minister of Works David Umahi’s claim that “it is not yet the turn of the South-East” to produce Nigeria’s president in 2027, insisting that only the electorate—not political elites—can determine the nation’s leader
Obi, speaking through his media aide and National Coordinator of the Obidient Movement Worldwide, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, said the principle of democracy empowers Nigerians to choose their next president based on performance and track record. “It is a democratic setting, and it is the people who will decide who becomes the next president, not any individual,” Obi told The PUNCH in an exclusive interview.
While Obi noted that debates over regional rotation should not dominate politics, he acknowledged that zoning has become a reality in Nigeria. “Ordinarily, we shouldn’t be having talks about whether it should be a southern or northern candidate. But since it has already been established for the unity of this country, the status quo should remain,” he added.
Umahi, in a recent interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, urged South-East politicians to abandon presidential ambitions and support President Bola Tinubu for re-election. The former Ebonyi State governor argued that Tinubu should complete his constitutionally allowed eight-year tenure, after which the South-East can vie for the presidency. He cited ongoing multi-billion-naira infrastructure projects in the region, including the Enugu–Onitsha Road, Port Harcourt–Aba–Umuahia–Enugu Dual Carriageway, and Abakaliki–Benue Boundary Trans-Sahara Road, as evidence of fairness to the South-East.
Obi’s reaction mirrors opposition sentiment that 2027 should be decided by voters rather than elite consensus or political maneuvering. The Obidient Movement also warned the APC against assuming defections in the South-East would automatically translate into votes for Tinubu in 2027. Dr. Tanko described the wave of defections as politically motivated and driven by the lure of federal resources rather than popular mandate.
“Most of these governors do not have the mandate of the people to do what they are doing,” Tanko said. “Coercion and inducement will not change voter sentiment in the region. When the chips are down, the people will show their anger. The South-East electorate remain loyal to the ideals of justice and accountability.”
Meanwhile, founding APC member Osita Okechukwu described reports of Enugu State Governor Peter Mbah’s planned defection to the APC as a “defining political moment” signaling the symbolic end of the PDP’s dominance in the South-East. He recalled that the PDP had controlled all five South-East states in 1999 but now holds none in 2025.
Okechukwu cited the PDP’s 2023 presidential primary, which barred southern aspirants from contesting, and the National Secretary controversy as instances of marginalization that alienated the party from the South-East. “Governor Mbah’s exit is not an isolated event — it is the final chapter in the South-East’s disillusionment with a party that failed to reward faithfulness, fairness, and friendship,” he concluded.
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Reporting by Emman Tochi in Lagos, Nigeria.
