Contrary to reports that he is riled up by the activities of Peter Obi, Labour Party (LP), presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi actually sees him as a hero, having stood up to be counted and continuing the race for the South East to produce the President for the first time in Nigeria.
The governor, who, in June this year, failed to clinch the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he defected months to the primaries, following his complaints that the rival Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), through which he rose through the ranks to become a two-term governor, was a no-go area in pursing the Igbo presidency agenda, said on Friday, that he was enthused by Obi continuing the race.
Umahi, had risen rapidly in the PDP, from Deputy State Chairman, Chairman, Deputy Governor, before contesting and winning the governorship in 2015, had abandoned the party to seek the nation’s number one job on the strong grounds that the PDP had shut its doors from people from the South East in that regard.
Confronted with the failure of his move and why he would be repudiating his earlier position and now attacking his fellow Igbo man on the ground that he failed, the governor flatly denied that he had ever stood against the ambition of the LP candidate or made any uncomplimentary remarks against him.
Umahi, who was in fact, quoted as saying that Obi stood no chance as the state was totally for the PDP and that he was going to organise a three-million man march for the candidate of the APC, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, dismissed the reports as social media creations, which he said, had done a lot of damages to the country.
Instead, he told his hosts on Arise Television’s breakfast programme, The Morning Show, that he would be hosting the LP candidate in the State anytime soon, to show the world where he stood with Obi, who he described as “my brother and my friend.”
The governor, who parried every other question on who he would actually support in the election between Obi and Tinubu, saying it was premature to do so, in order not to break the electoral laws, though he maintained the earlier stance of governors from the South in September last year that the position must come to the region, said: “I was sure that the PDP was not going to give ticket to an Igbo man and I said, no, that was not fair, because we’ve served this party since 1999.
“That was my position. A lot of people that are crying today were the people attacking me for leaving the party and subsequently, they left. They owe me a lot of apologies. Peter Obi is my brother. I’m very proud of what he’s doing. It would have been a disaster if the South East is not heard at all in the quest for presidency and I wish him well.
“I never in all my outings and utterances mentioned Peter Obi. Peter Obi is my brother and my friend. I’m going to host him in Ebonyi State and I will host him publicly, I like what he’s doing, and it’s very encouraging.”
