The African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Enugu State has said the South-East will not support President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election, despite alleged threats that the region could lose federal infrastructure projects if it fails to vote for him.
The party challenged the Minister of Works, David Umahi, to “do his worst,” insisting that no amount of intimidation or political pressure would force the people of the region to support Tinubu’s re-election bid.
The ADC was reacting to comments reportedly made by Umahi during an inspection of federal road and bridge projects in Ebonyi State.
The minister was said to have urged the South-East to support Tinubu in 2027 or risk losing ongoing federal projects.
In a statement, the Enugu State Secretary of the ADC, Adolphus Ude, 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 attempting to blackmail the South-East into supporting Tinubu.
According to him, the people of the region are politically independent and cannot be forced to vote for any candidate against their will.
He said Umahi’s alleged remarks amounted to talking down on the people of the South-East.
The ADC chieftain said, “Umahi should mention the major infrastructure projects being executed by the Tinubu government in the South-East and state their locations and value.”
Ude also faulted Umahi’s claim that the Tinubu administration had addressed the marginalisation of the South-East.
He argued that the exclusion of the region had worsened under the current Federal Government.
According to him, the South-East has not benefited from the administration’s flagship infrastructure projects, including the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto-Badagry Highway.
He claimed that 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 was no significant new federal infrastructure project currently ongoing in the South-East.
He added, “The long-awaited dredging of the River Niger is not ongoing, and the South-East still has no rail line. So, what projects are being threatened?”
The ADC secretary further alleged that the South-East remained the most marginalised geopolitical zone under the Tinubu administration.
He said the region had only five ministers in the Federal Executive Council, with three of them serving as 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 to obtain international passports.
He maintained that the region had not received the kind of federal attention that would justify Umahi’s appeal for political support.
According to him, development projects are not a favour to any region but a constitutional responsibility of the Federal Government.
Ude said the South-East owed Tinubu no political loyalty, recalling that the President lost in all five states of the region during the 2023 presidential election.
He argued that nothing had happened since then to change the political mood of the people ahead of the 2027 polls.
The ADC chieftain insisted that voters in the South-East would make their choice based on governance, fairness, inclusion and performance, not threats from any political office holder.
He said no minister had the right to threaten a region over projects funded with public resources.
Ude called on Umahi to withdraw the alleged threat and apologise to Ndigbo.
