The Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, told reporters on Thursday, 24 September 2026 that the 2027 general election is not the time for the Igbo people to produce Nigeria’s next president. The statement was made at the flag‑off ceremony for the Federal Ministry of Works’ formal takeover of the temporary rehabilitation of the Benin‑Asaba Highway in Benin City.
Umahi was responding to a remark attributed to former Anambra State governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate Peter Obi, who said the minister “is not his match.” Umahi said he took ten minutes to consider the comment and questioned whether Obi’s family background, intellectual credentials or record of service to the South‑East were superior to his own.
“Is it what we have done for the people of the South‑East? Is it what we did when we were governors? So, when you say he’s not my match, put it side by side and tell me which area Peter Obi is better than me.”
He added that “it’s not the turn of the Igbos yet” and that the South‑East would eventually have an opportunity to produce a president, but the current political moment belongs to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Umahi also defended the Tinubu administration, saying that the federal government’s infrastructure projects benefit communities across the country and urging supporters to defend the president’s achievements in the South‑South, South‑East and other regions.
During the same event, Edo State Governor Monday Okpebholo alleged that those who opposed former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 were now targeting Tinubu ahead of the 2027 election. He said there was “no vacancy in Aso Rock” and that the eight‑year term of Tinubu must be completed.
“People that want to contest now against Tinubu have all ruled in one way or the other, either in low capacity or in higher capacity. While they were there, they fought former President Goodluck Jonathan because he wanted to build Almajiri schools to educate youths and Almajiri so that there would be no problem like what we are having today.”
Okpebholo warned that politicians who “collect their money and would not vote for them” should not waste resources on a contest that he said would not succeed. He concluded that “our President is not a supermarket man, but supermarket people want to rule Nigeria now, even when there is no vacancy in Aso Rock.”
<small>Source: Daily Post Nigeria — read the original story there.</small>
