Barely 24 hours after he said people of the state will not vote for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
Umahi had yesterday claimed that the votes of the State only belong to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC.
According to him: “We will not vote for Labour Party, we will only vote for APC. Our vote is for APC and not for Labour Party. Our agenda is Ebonyi’s agenda. We will vote for our Presidential candidate in the person of Tinubu. We must strive to liberate Ebonyi State and that is our agenda”
Umahi’s statement called an uproar on the streets of social media, with many saying that the governor lacks the power to determine who should be voted for.
But Francis Nwaze, Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Publicity said what Governor Umahi did during a Stakeholders’ meeting on Monday was in the spirit of sportsmanship to emphasize his earlier resolve to support the eventual winner of the Presidential election who later turned out to be Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
He denied that the governor specifically asked Ebonyi People not to vote for a particular candidate in the 2023 Presidential election.
“Without joining issues with the purveyors of this twisted and misleading information, we have elected to make a few clarifications for better comprehension by discerning minds:
1. Governor Umahi understands that all Citizens have freedom of choice of Candidates.
2. However, you would recall that while making his speech during the just concluded Presidential Primary at the Eagle Square, Abuja, Governor Umahi did promise to abide by the outcome of the election by supporting whoever eventually becomes the Standard Bearer of the Party.
3. What Governor Umahi did during a Stakeholders’ meeting on Monday was in the spirit of sportsmanship to emphasize his earlier resolve to support the eventual winner of the Presidential election who later turned out to be Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
4. The statement by Governor Umahi by all standards only underscored his determination to live up to his earlier comment of supporting the Party’s Standard Bearer.
5. However, Governor Umahi has not hidden his displeasure with the role of most of the political actors of the SouthEast who are only self-serving and not honest about the agitation of having a Nigerian President from the zone. He underscored the fact that the stakeholders of the zone are not yet determined to take their destinies into their hands which is obviously visible in their character.
6. Furthermore, it is pertinent to observe that if anyone wants the support and vote of Ebonyians, let such person switch to the All Progressives Party, APC, as Ebonyi State under the leadership of Governor David Umahi, is an APC state and as such, don’t play double standard, knowing that it is difficult and near impossible to be kissing and vomiting at the same time.
7. The general public is encouraged to see it from the lens of obedience to the supremacy of the Political Party.
8. All and sundry are advised to disregard the hapless hypothesis which was only concocted for the self-aggrandizement of those spreading it.
