By Ado Oyeyemi
Minister of Works and former Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, has come under criticism following his assertion that it is not yet the turn of the South-East to produce Nigeria’s president.
Umahi made the comment on Thursday in Benin City, Edo State, while speaking at an event on the Federal Government’s intervention in the Benin-Asaba Road.
He also defended his support for President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
The minister was responding to comments comparing him with former Anambra State Governor and Nigeria Democratic Congress presidential candidate, Peter Obi.
Umahi said he had considered whether Obi had a stronger family background, greater intellectual credentials or a better record of service to the South-East before questioning claims that the former Anambra governor was superior to him.
On the 2027 presidency, he said the South-East would eventually produce a president but maintained that the opportunity did not belong to the region at present.
“What we are saying is that it is not the turn of Igbos yet. We will one day become president, but it is not yet our turn; it is the turn of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu,” Umahi said.
The comment has generated criticism from some political commentators and supporters of Obi, who argue that presidential rotation among Nigeria’s geopolitical zones is a political arrangement rather than a constitutional provision. Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution does not prescribe North-South rotation of the presidency.
Public affairs analyst, Adedayo Oluwatosin, faulted Umahi’s position, arguing that the South-East had not produced a president since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999.
Oluwatosin also criticised Umahi’s comments about Obi, saying the two politicians should be assessed based on their respective records rather than political affiliations.
Another commentator, Lagos businessman Chidozie Okafor, said Umahi was entitled to his opinion but disagreed with his argument on zoning and the timing of an Igbo presidency.
Okafor further expressed support for Obi’s presidential ambition, while lawyer Marcellus Onah described the criticism directed at the former Anambra governor as evidence, in his view, of his growing political profile.
Another commentator, James Okoye, also defended Obi and challenged Umahi to subject his record in public office to the same scrutiny he believes should apply to other politicians.
Umahi, however, has continued to defend the Tinubu administration, saying its infrastructure projects and other interventions were benefiting communities across the country.
He also urged supporters of the President to speak up in defence of the administration’s record.
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The minister’s comments come amid renewed political debate over zoning, regional rotation and the competing ambitions of political figures ahead of the 2027 presidential election.
