KEY POINTS

• ADC has criticised Dave Umahi for claiming Tinubu would receive 90 percent of South-East votes in 2027.

• The party says the minister is misleading the president and exaggerating political support in the region.

• ADC argues new political alignments could make the South-East difficult territory for the ruling APC.

The African Democratic Congress in Enugu State has strongly criticised Minister of Works Dave Umahi for claiming that Nigeria’s South-East region would deliver 90 percent of its votes to President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 presidential election.

The party issued the rebuke in a statement reacting to remarks Umahi reportedly made during an inspection tour of road projects along the Enugu–Port Harcourt expressway. During the visit, the minister said the region would rally behind Tinubu’s re-election bid and added that it was not yet the South-East’s turn to produce Nigeria’s president.

In its response, the Enugu chapter of the ADC dismissed Umahi’s prediction as unrealistic and misleading. The statement, signed by Comrade Adolphus Ude, coordinator of ADC Like-Minds, argued that the minister’s comments were politically motivated and not reflective of actual public sentiment in the region.

The party insisted that Tinubu performed poorly across all five South-East states in the 2023 presidential election, securing less than 10 percent of total votes cast, and said there had been no significant policy or political shift since then that would dramatically reverse that outcome in 2027.

ADC accuses minister of misleading president

The ADC further accused Umahi of giving the president false hope rather than presenting an honest assessment of political realities. It said claims that the current administration had addressed marginalisation in the South-East were inaccurate, alleging instead that exclusion had worsened under the present government.

The party pointed to federal appointments as an example, arguing that representation from the region remains limited despite the presence of five ministers from the zone, three of whom it described as junior ministers. It also cited infrastructure allocation and access to government services as areas where it believes the region is disadvantaged.

The statement also referenced shifting political alliances, noting that Peter Obi the 2023 presidential candidate of the Labour Party and other prominent Igbo figures have recently aligned with the ADC, a development the party claims strengthens its influence in the region.

According to the ADC, this realignment could reshape the political landscape ahead of the next general election and make the zone increasingly difficult terrain for the ruling All Progressives Congress.

The party concluded by challenging Umahi to provide concrete evidence of improvements in the region since 2023 that could justify his optimism about electoral support for the president.