TheNewsGuru

Tag: Umahi

  • Ebonyi crisis: Umahi’s boys shutdown school owned by our member over refusal to join APC – PDP

    Ebonyi crisis: Umahi’s boys shutdown school owned by our member over refusal to join APC – PDP

    The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Ebonyi State chapter has lamented that some of its leaders in the state were targedted and harassed by loyalists of the state governor, David Umahi.

    In a press statement signed by thes Publicity Secretary, PDP, Ebonyi state, Mr. Silas Onu and made available to TheNewsGuru (TNG), the party cited a case of illegal closure of the private School belonging to Barr. Agbom Friday, duly licensed to operate as such, by the Ezza South Local Government Chairman.

    Onu alleged that the only sin commited by Barr. Friday is refused to dump PDP.

    He added that that Umahi’s appointees are using their office to intimidate citizens simply because they have refused to decamp into APC.

    The statement reads in full: “Our attention has been drawn to the sudden unwarranted illegal closure of the private School belonging to Barr. Agbom Friday, duly licensed to operate as such, by the Ezza South Local Government Chairman.

    “Barr. Agbom Friday is the PDP Chairman for Ezza South Local Government Area and has remained resolute on his decision to continue as a loyal member of the People’s Democratic Party in Ebonyi State. This is his only sin – refusal to decamp into the APC.

    “Suddenly, his business endeavour has suddenly become the target of State as they’ve alleged that the School is a harbour for cultist in the Local Government Area. When did they know of this fact? Was it when he refused to decamp with them?

    “Just two days ago, His Excellency, Governor David Umahi made an open declaration for peace in Ebonyi State and also directed his subordinates to desist from acts that will advance bitterness in the State. With this brazen act of intolerance coming from the Local Government Chairman of Ezza South and other political office holders therefrom, could the directive of the Governor be a mere window-dressing, designed to deceive while politically motivated attacks are sustained by his appointees and boys?

    “If the Governor truly meant his directive, then we should see a serious resentment from him regarding this open act of intolerance and psychological violence meted upon Barr. Agbom.

    “As we have stated repeatedly, it is not a crime to refuse the lure of decamping along with the Governor. Politics is the epitome of freedom of Association as encapsulated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and no one can be forced to belong in a Political party that he or she is not interested in.

    “The action of the Executive Chairman of Ezza South Local Government Area is condemned in totality and he is called upon to immediately re-open that school. It is still the duty of the Nigerian Police to fish out criminals, arrest and prosecute them.

    “The Governor is called upon, also, to once again admonish his appointees and followers to desist from further harassing or using their office to intimidate citizens simply because they have refused to decamp into APC.

    “The PDP is compiling records of these abuses and will soon begin publishing same on national dailies and televisions for the whole nation and international communities to see what is happening in Ebonyi State. We will not be deterred by needless intimidation and attacks.”

     

  • 2023: Umahi’s defection of rancour, recrimination -Ehichioya Ezomon

    2023: Umahi’s defection of rancour, recrimination -Ehichioya Ezomon

    By Ehichioya Ezomon
    The boxing bout hasn’t started and yet, a blow has landed on the nose. This is an Esan proverb that depicts the mud-fight between Governor Dave Umahi and political leaders in Ebonyi State.
    It’s barely three weeks that Umahi defected from the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the rumpus that predates his defection hasn’t abated.
    The crisis emanated from Umahi’s calculation that his soul-mates in the PDP would graciously join him to decamp to the APC. But he’s shocked they’ve shelved the plan, provoking him to turn against them and even their interests in his government.
    Leading the “renegades” is former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, who’s “returned fire for fire” against Umahi for labeling him as a betrayer.
    Surely, some PDP chieftains, particularly members of the caucus in the National Assembly (NASS), were opposed to Umahi’s defection, and told him they wouldn’t abandon the PDP because of him.
    At a news conference in Abuja, former governor of Ebonyi and the caucus leader, Senator Sam Egwu, declared: “We remain proud card-carrying members of the PDP… For the sake of clarity, we wish to state that not a single member… is defecting to the APC.
    “The three Distinguished Senators and five House of Representatives members remain proud card-carrying members of the PDP… under which we contested and won elections in 2019.”
    Prior to Umahi’s defection, nowhere was Anyim, a former Senator, featured publicly in the equation until Umahi’s revelation lately at an APC stakeholders’ meeting in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi capital city.
    According to the governor, Anyim and other leaders of the PDP in Ebonyi, including the NASS caucus members he said he had consulted and they approved his move, were to join him “two weeks after he must have successfully defected” to the APC.
    But Umahi noted that Anyim backed out because he (Umahi) visited President Muhammadu Buhari, ahead of the defection, adding that the NASS members and other leaders’ grievance was that he joined the APC before them, rather than after their defection.
    “They were planning to ambush me, but it is difficult to catch the air,” Umahi boasted, an allusion to the governor’s outsmarting of the PDP leaders that tangle with him over the desertion saga.
    That’s it: No unity of purpose! There’s lack of trust between the Umahi and PDP leaders’ camps, to the extent that they’re reading from different pages, and preparing to board different means of transportation to defect to the APC.
    From his public displays on the matter, Umahi’s main regret is his practice of cronyism: patronizing the PDP leaders in Ebonyi, whom he accuses of ganging up against him after accepting goodies, in the form of the famed “stomach infrastructure.”
    “All these people that came together to fight me, they collect contracts, they collect monthly pay, they collect vehicles,” Umahi told APC stakeholders in Abakaliki, adding: “And when they are asked to bring people that will work for us, they will bring their wives, children and relations.”
    Umahi vowed that for the PDP leaders’ recalcitrance, he would go beyond mere verbal statement to publishing what they benefited from him. “We are in chapter one. In chapter two, I will publish all that I have done for the leaders of this state,” Umahi said.
    The question: Was the patronage in anticipation of the leaders decamping to the APC or the usual extension of largesse to party stalwarts for electoral support and backing for the government?
    Dictionary.cambridge.org, in defining defection, says: “For subjects of both rank types, the higher the expectation of defection, the higher the probability of defecting.” What were the PDP leaders to gain, in concrete terms, if they followed Umahi to the APC?
    If the patronage was a “pay-for-play,” then Umahi didn’t do his homework properly. He placed too much trust in the party leaders, who, as politicians, are known for playing hardball.
    Politicians only enter into a “gentleman’s agreement,” which can be broken at will. Even written agreements are torn to shreds when politicians’ interests – their first and only consideration – are at stake. So, Umahi breached one of the cardinal rules in politics: Trust the other person at your own political peril.
    Umahi’s wrong in thinking that if the PDP leaders defected before him, they would take the shine off his. But they would’ve acted as harbingers of a “big masquerade” following behind them.
    Whether before or after the PDP leaders, Umahi’s decamping, as the governor and leader of the party in Ebonyi, has more political weight and mileage. Thus, he misjudged by jumping the gun!
    Joining a political party is a matter of choice – a fundamental human right – free from cajoling, coercion, intimidation and threat. Nobody, not the Ebonyi PDP leaders, forced Umahi into the APC. Why would he compel, rather than persuade, them to join him?
    And must Umahi “show his power,” to express his ennui with the PDP leaders in Ebonyi? That would only complicate matters for him, as the torchbearer to lead his people to his new platform.
    Umahi has turned his defection “fiasco” into a vendetta, sacking political appointees associated with the PDP leaders, thereby hardening the chieftains’ resolve not to defect, for fear of getting a raw deal under his leadership of the APC in Ebonyi.
    Umahi’s feud with the PDP leaders has prompted an intervention by the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), which holds that citizens can quit or remain in any political party of their choice.
    The Ebonyi CAN chairman, Rev. Father Abraham Nwali, during a mediatory/courtesy visit to Umahi, advised him to “employ all wisdom and tact at his disposal” to ensure peace for development.
    “We need the peace; that peace is all that we are looking for,” Nwali said. “As a father, you are the vanguard of peace. Continue to remind us, let us continue to live in peace. Let us live in peace.”
    Nwali said in Europe and America, citizens choose the party to belong, adding that, “in Washington D.C.,… there is always a switch between Democrats and Republicans. There is always a movement, depending on the signal of your political ideology.”
    “In Europe, there is a move from the left to the right. There is nothing wrong with movement. It’s where you get your satisfaction. Why would there be extraordinary clamour (to defect)?” Nwali said.
    Umahi appears to forget that “people talk about him” not for his defection to the APC, but due to his developmental strides that’ve earned him the “Most Performing Governor” in the South-East.
    Actually, CAN reminded him about the “fame and prestige” his government has brought, for which “Ebonyi State can never write the history of this generation forever without your name,” charging him to complete the ring road, airport and stadium projects.
    As an affirmation that Umahi’s government under the PDP has benefited from the Buhari APC administration, Rev. Nwali said, “We need the centre (Federal Government) to finish them (projects).”
    Umahi should heed the plea of the stakeholders he had interacted with in Abakaliki, to wit: “We, therefore, urge him to remain focused in his determination to transform Ebonyi State for the good of all.”
    So, no room for rancour and recrimination!
    * Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
  • Umahi sacks political appointees linked with Pius Anyim

    Umahi sacks political appointees linked with Pius Anyim

    Ebonyi State governor, David Umahi has sacked most of his political appointees from Ivo LGA, where former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Pius Anyim hails from.

    Anyim is from Ishiagu community in Ivo.

    The sack, which was announced by Government secretary, Kenneth Ụgbọala, comes barely 24 hours after Anyim wrote an open letter to Umahi, alleging a plot to kill him.

    Ụgbọala said the sack was informed by the Governor’s decision to ensure inclusiveness in governance.

    Those affected by the sack are: All Senior Technical Assistants (STAs) and Technical Assistants (TAs) to the Governor; All Liaison Officers; and All Management Committee members from Ivo Local Government Area.

    The statement directed them to handover all Government Property in their possession to the Secretary to the State Government and Coordinating Commissioner by the close of work today, 2nd December 2020.

    Umahi had last Thursday sacked Coordinators of Ivo and Echiele Development Centres for allegedly refusing to sign a communiqué against Senator Pius Anyim.

    Anyim and Umahi were political allies before now, until Umahi decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party to join the all Progressives Congress.

    Umahi had said Anyim, senators and reps members in the state were privy to his political switch. And they were supposed to dump PDP like he did.

    However, he was the only political force that went to the APC.

  • 2023: PDP’s furore over Umahi’s defection to APC, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    2023: PDP’s furore over Umahi’s defection to APC, By Ehichioya Ezomon

    By Ehichioya Ezomon
    Among the fundamental rights guarantied in section 40 of the amended 1999 Constitution is the entitlement of every Nigerian “to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular, he may form or belong to any political party, trade union or other association for the protection of his interests…”
    But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) seems to have circumscribed this right, as exercisable by Governor Dave Umahi to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
    Suddenly, there’s bedlam from the PDP hierarchy, as if the Ebonyi State governor has committed a crime for deciding to decamp to the APC after hibernating in the PDP for over 20 years.
    It’s also resulted in a spat between Umahi and Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, with Wike calling Umahi a “liar” and an “ingrate,” and Umahi labeling Wike a “dictator” and an “interloper.”
    But barely six months ago, the PDP, with Wike leading, rolled out the drums to receive Governor Godwin Obaseki when he defected from the APC in the run-up to the governorship poll in Edo State.
    Then, to the PDP, it wasn’t that Obaseki was desperate for power, but that the APC didn’t treat him fairly, for disqualifying him from the primaries for the September 19, 2020 election.
    Now, the PDP says Umahi is desperate to be president, hence he left the party that made him state chairman (2003-2007); deputy governor (2007-2015); and two-term governor (2015 till date).
    But can these PDP top shots show a politician, among the nation’s officeholders/seekers, who wasn’t or isn’t desperate for position and power? Why should Umahi’s ambition be an exception?
    Yet, the PDP cleverly side-stepped Umahi’s allegation of “injustice” that the party has done to the Southeast, which, since 1999, has voted massively for it, but “the PDP is yet to give reasons why the Southeast is unfit for the Presidency.”
    That’s the issue on ground, for which Umahi says he’s offering himself as a “sacrificial lamb for the interest of the zone,” and that he may quit politics in 2023, but still be involved in “building support for a presidential candidate of Southeast origin.”
    And how did the PDP respond to Umahi’s weighty submission, as the core reason for his defection to the APC? It’s the typical liner from a “peacocky” institution that admits no fallibility!
    “We are not a party that will be responding to issues on impulse. We are not a party that will be pushed around by any individual. No individual is bigger than the PDP,” boasted the party’s national spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan.
    Really? Hasn’t “one individual” been pushing the PDP around lately? And if it wasn’t rattled by Umahi’s defection, as the PDP chair Prince Uche Secondus, Ologbondiyan and Wike claimed, why the haste to dissolve all party executives in Ebonyi State?
    Media reports indicate that the PDP “hurriedly” convened an emergency meeting of its National Working Committee (NWC) and dissolved Ebonyi’s ward, council, state and the zonal executives.
    Ologbondiyan said “these decisions are pursuant to the powers conferred on the NWC by the PDP constitution,” but the move was said to prevent party officials from defecting along with Umahi.
    The fear of a massive defection has gripped the PDP since the news broke that Umahi would decamp to the APC, whose leadership uncommonly helped fuel the “exodus” from the PDP.
    Afraid of domination, some APC heavyweights in several states had kicked against opposition leaders defecting to the platform. But in Umahi’s case, APC stalwarts, including President Muhammadu Buhari, “have given their blessing to the venture.”
    Buhari said of Umahi: “I know people might call him names, but that is the price men of principles have to pay for acting according to their conscience and conviction.”
    The PDP leaders had striven to stem Umahi’s defection, engaging him both in Abuja and at Abakaliki, the Ebonyi capital city, but the “most performing governor” in the South-East remained adamant.
    To limit the impact of his movement to the APC, the PDP worked on its leaders in Ebonyi, especially its caucus members in the National Assembly (NASS), “not to go along with Umahi to APC.”
    The members held a press conference in Abuja, to “let Umahi know that we will not abandon PDP because of him,” said Senator Sam Egwu, chair of the caucus and former governor of Ebonyi.
    Egwu added: “We remain proud card-carrying members of the PDP… For the sake of clarity, we wish to state that not a single member of the Ebonyi State PDP caucus… is defecting to the APC.
    “The three Distinguished Senators and five House of Representatives members remain proud card-carrying members of the PDP… under which we contested and won elections in 2019.”
    The caucus members even tried to blackmail Umahi. While conceding his right to join any political association of his choice, they said as lawmakers, they’re aware of the Supreme Court decision that “candidates are products of political parties.”
    “What it means is that political officeholders are not at liberty to migrate from one political platform to another, particularly when there is no division in their party.” Isn’t that questioning Umahi’s right “to assemble freely and associate with other persons”?
    As the PDP licks the wound inflicted on it by the exit of Umahi from its column, the APC is celebrating its addition of Ebonyi State to Imo State, the party’s sole slot since 2013 in the South-East.
    Ahead of Umahi’s defection, the South-East APC caucus met at the Imo State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro, Abuja, “to brainstorm on strategies for repositioning the party in the zone.”
    The caucus leader and Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Ogbonaya Onu, said the South-East APC leaders were interested in the reintegration of the zone into mainstream politics.
    “We have one governor now, and we are working so that by 2023, we will have five governors,” Onu said, adding, “We have the people and whatever problem we have, we will resolve them.”
    Specifically on Umahi’s defection, former Senate President Ken Nnamani said: “It is a work in progress. Our party is a moving train. We are ready to pick anybody that wants to join us. We are expecting not only governors but everybody.
    “Our gate is wide open for any person who loves to move in. We are expecting more people. There are many large rooms in our party. For those who are ready to join, the train of APC is already moving.”
    If the APC members’ optimism materialized, it would feed into the prediction of a PDP chieftain and former Aviation Minister, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, who described Umahi’s defection as “troubling.”
    Fani-Fayode had tweeted: “I urge the leadership of the PDP to do all they can to ensure that he (Umahi) stays. Not only is he a profoundly good man and an excellent Governor but his contributions to the success of the PDP over the last 20 years at various levels is (sic) immeasurable and simply extraordinary.
    “What makes the matter worse is that other Governors may also contemplate leaving if he does because he has a lot of friends and goodwill amongst them. If that happens, it will affect our party’s chances in the 2023 presidential election in a very significant way.”
    Perhaps, an advice coming too little, too late, as Governor Umahi has formalized his departure from the PDP, received into the APC fold, and “presented” to President Buhari by the party’s Caretaker Committee and the Progressives Governors’ Forum in Abuja.
    The BIG question, though: Will Umahi’s defection sway the APC to zone the Presidency to the South-East in 2023, and prompt the PDP to toe the same line? It’s a gambit Umahi has taken in exercising his right to assemble freely and associate with whomever he chooses!
    * Mr. Ezomon, Journalist and Media Consultant, writes from Lagos, Nigeria.
  • Photos: Buhari formally receives Umahi as APC governor in Aso Villa

    Photos: Buhari formally receives Umahi as APC governor in Aso Villa

    President Muhammadu Buhari hosted Ebonyi Governor, Dave Umahi, at Aso Rock hours after he formally switched from PDP to APC.

    Umahi was led to Aso Rock by APC National Caretaker Chairman and Yobe governor, Alhaji Mai Buni.

    The governors of Kebbi, Niger, Jigawa and The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, were also at the meeting.

    Umahi joined the APC formally on Thursday, dumping the Peoples Democratic Party.

    He also urged his supporters not to castigate the state’s National Assembly members and others who did not defect with him from the PDP to the APC.

    He said: “Do not castigate them because they are looking for something and will come back when they get it.

    “They are my children and I love them very much as the father of the state.”

    Umahi also boasted that Ebonyi is presently 99.9 per cent APC.

    “We have the deputy governor, speaker of the House of Assembly, 110 state executive council members, 1,200 executive assistants, senior technical assistants and technical assistants and 374 LGA liaison officers together in this agreement.

    “We also have 400 members of boards and commissions, 560 LGA management committee members, 130 LGA supervisors, the entire chairmen of the 13 LGAs, party chairmen in the councils, legislators among others in this movement,” he said.

  • Defection: Umahi’s anger started after Atiku picked Obi as running mate in 2019 – Wike

    Defection: Umahi’s anger started after Atiku picked Obi as running mate in 2019 – Wike

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has traced the anger of his Ebonyi State counterpart, David Umahi, against the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to the point Peter Obi was chosen as the Presidential Running Mate to the party’s 2019 Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

    Wike, who spoke in a live television programme, also advised Umahi not to allow his quest to become president of Nigeria, destroy the South-East politically.

    He said: “When we had the 2018 convention that produced our Presidential Candidate then, the Waziri of Adamawa, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, as presidential candidate, he consulted widely, and came up with Peter Obi, to be his Vice, Umahi was livid because he wanted to produce or he wanted to be Vice-President.

    “You don’t choose who would be the Vice-Presidential candidate of anybody. Umahi was livid. What disturbs me, why do you think that if anything comes to South-East it must be you? Why do you think so?”

    Wike said while no one would deny Umahi the right to pursue his political aspiration, which he said was the primary reason for his defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), he should be mindful of the political future of the South-Eastern region.

    He said Umahi had shown himself as an ungrateful man for insisting that he left PDP to protest the injustice the party meted to the South-Eastern region since 1999.

    Wike said Umahi could not talk of injustice when he singlehandedly installed his two younger brothers as the Zonal Vice-Chairman of PDP and the Deputy State Chairman of the party.

    He said: “If he believes in equity and justice, will he be doing such? It is because he has planted these people that the State House of Assembly had such effrontery to give the National Working Committee (NWC) ultimatum to zone the presidency to the East. Where does such a thing happen? No other party has done any zoning. You can imagine the level of selfishness. ”

    He also described as untrue the claim by Umahi that he made PDP in the southeast zone as the only financier of all of its activities.

    He said such a claim suggested that other governors of Anambra, Abia, and Enugu states were not doing anything to ensure the success of the party in the zone.

    Wike said: “I know it’s not correct. If not for Pius Ayim that impressed it on former Governor Elechi, would Umahi have become governor? So, he can’t say he’s the one who has built PDP.

    “The party made him what he is and if he denies it, it only tells you the kind of person he is. What’s even his contribution at the national level of the party to support his claim? Where was he when people like Alex Ekwueme fought General Abacha and built the party? I distaste such arrogance”.

    Wike dismissed the allegation against him by Umahi that he was a dictator, who imposed, Uche Secondus as PDP National Chairman and his will on the party.

    He described the allegation as spurious saying evidence abound that Secondus was elected at the National Convention of the PDP.

    The governor accused his Ebonyi State counterpart of being treacherous explaining that when the caucus of the party decided that Kingsley Chinda should be elected Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Umahi told his State Reps to work against it.

    Wike further stated that when PDP loyal members tried to rescue the party from the destructive tendencies of Modi Sheriff, Umahi was one of those who was frolicking with him.

    “We fought and won and Modi Sheriff left. I can say that I am one of those who made sure that PDP never died. I feel comfortable with my performance in my State. Rivers people are comfortable with me too.

    “For the first time before PDP left office, they (South East) have never had Chief of Army Staff. They have had Senate Presidents. They have had national Chairman of the Party; they have had Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

    “They have had Minister of Finance. Now, tell me what APC has given to the people of South-East since 2015, Minister of Labour, Minister of Science and Technology, and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

    “Three Senators from his state said they have seen the need for South-East to produce a president. However, it is not the way our governor is going about. This is not a personal thing. Your ambition should not destroy the entire South East.”

  • [TNG Analysis] 2023: Umahi’s sacrificial offering and his deceptive tongue

    [TNG Analysis] 2023: Umahi’s sacrificial offering and his deceptive tongue

    *2019: I can’t join APC made of failed leaders
    *2020: I am offering myself to APC as a matyr
    *2021: Still loading
    By Emman Ovuakporie
    Governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi may go into Nigeria’s political archives as the most unpredictable, naive and deceptive politician from the South East geo-political zone of Nigeria.
    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG in this news analysis will take a look at some of his twisted utterances and how the opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP harboured a disloyal member for almost two decades.
    On Tuesday, the Senator Sam Egwu led Ebonyi legislative caucus at the National Assembly gave him the heave ho, signalling he had been orphaned.
    The caucus didn’t mince words, they simply told the two tongued governor “we are not going on a journey of no return with you , you are on your own.
    Just last year July, Umahi had told whoever cared to listen that he can’t join the ruling party as it was made of failed leaders.
    By November of 2020, the governor has sang a different tone connoting all he said in 2018 and 2019 was absolute nonesense.
    Hear him:
    2019: I Can’t Join APC With Failed Leaders – Gov. Umahi
    July 17, 2018 Blueprint
    The Governor of Ebonyi State Engr. David Umahi has dispelled rumours making the rounds that he has plans to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC in Ebonyi State.
    Governor Umahi, made the announcement Tuesday at the Government House, Abakaliki while briefing journalists.
    His declaration came barley 24 hours after Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State declared his intention to quit his party, All Progressives Congress, APC.
    Umahi said he cannot join the kind of APC with failed leaders in Ebonyi State.
    According to him, he had benefited immensely from the PDP as chairman, deputy governor, and ultimately state governor.
    He said he was focused on how to attract democratic dividends to the people of the state and not dirty politics.
    “The clarification is that my relationship with Mr. President is because he is Mr. President, and he is my boss and the relationship is personal.
    “Mr. President or any APC person has never asked me to come to APC, and they will never ask me, and there is no reason for me to leave my party PDP of which I am the party chairman,deputy governor and now governor.
    “I have always insisted in character.
    People that jumps from one party to the other should examine their characters, except if there is any problem within your party.
    “As for today ,till tomorrow until Christ comes, there is no crisis in PDP. Even if there is a need for me to leave PDP, I can never leave PDP to the kind of APC in Ebonyi State.
    “Because with the kind of leaders in Ebonyi APC, leaders that have failed Ebonyi State. I can never be on the same political platform with them.
    “I am focused to do my job. I am focused in governance. I have always insisted that we should leave party politics to our party men and women, while as soon as you are elected, you should focus on your job.
    “The fever that has been griping me since the day I was elected was for me to do my job, the dividends of democracy and the plight of our people.
    “So they should leave me alone with this their dirty politics. I am focused; I am PDP. As a member of PDP, I have benefited on the platform to be a party chairman, to be a deputy governor, and now a governor. I am a man of character”, he insisted.
    Could this be the same Umahi who has suddenly turned himself into a sacrificial lamb willing to go into political oblivion.
    Leaving an opposition party that he once chaired its affairs in his home state?
    Too many questions begging for an answer that may not be answered by this sacrificial lamb.
    2021, still loading and Nigerians will hear more from Gov Umahi.
  • ‘A bold move!’ Buhari reacts to Umahi’s defection to APC

    ‘A bold move!’ Buhari reacts to Umahi’s defection to APC

    President Muhammadu Buhari has commended Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, for defecting to the the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Buhari described Umahi’s action “as a bold move driven purely by principle rather than opportunistic motives.”

    “I am proud of Governor David Umahi for taking this bold decision in accordance with his conscience and principles rather than any external influence or coercion.”

    According to the President, “Good governance is very important to us in the APC, and I’m glad that the governor has cited this as a major factor in his decision to join us.

    “I urge our citizens to pay less emphasis on identity politics if we want our democracy to make a positive impact on our country.”

    He noted that “with men like Umahi, I foresee a brighter future for our democracy because the voters will be more motivated by performance records of parties and their candidates.”

    “Let me once again; commend the boldness of Governor Umahi for taking this courageous decision in a country where principles are in short supply among many.

    “I know people might call him names, but that is the price men of principles have to pay for acting according to their conscience and convictions” President Buhari added.

    Umahi, two-term governor of the eastern state of Ebonyi, announced his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party to Buhari’s APC on Tuesday.

    He said he swift party allegiance because of what he called the unfairness and injustice of the PDP to his region.

  • ‘Dictator’ Wike may push more ‘unhappy’ governors out of PDP – Umahi

    ‘Dictator’ Wike may push more ‘unhappy’ governors out of PDP – Umahi

    Ebonyi Governor David Umahi has alleged the dictatorial tendencies of his Rivers counterpart, Nyesom Wike, were destroying the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

    Umahi was reacting to a statement by Wike, who said he the Ebony Governor left the PDP for the All Progressives Congress (APC) because of his desperation to be President come 2023.

    Umahi spoke on Arise TV interview programme monitored on Wednesday.

    He said Wike’s dictatorial tendencies and overbearing influence on running of the party affairs have made other Governors unhappy with him.

    He warned Wike to desist from attacking him as it would be very dangerous for both of them.

    He said: “I refused to join issues with Wike because he is my friend. But Wike must know that he is a dictator.

    “Wike must know that one person cannot be called a crowd. Wike must know that a lot of governors in PDP are not very happy with him. He remote controls the party.

    “He (Wike) said that I made my brother the Vice Chairman. I fund the PDP southeast from A to Z. And he has forgotten that he singlehandedly made Secondus the chairman. He has forgotten that he wanted to impose one of his own as minority Leader of the House.

    “There is nothing that happens in PDP without his authorisation. He once said that PDP National Working Committee members are beggars and bribe takers. I have asked him that let’s not take on ourselves or else it will be very dangerous.”

    He added: “So let’s us face the party, the party does not belong to him. And this is by no means personal and he is demonstrating the dictatorial tendencies in him by taking on me, a fellow governor. And that is very shameful”.

    Umahi warned unless there was a change in the mode of doing things in PDP from a situation where it is being remote controlled, more Governors will like leave the party.

    “APC does more consultation and anybody can contravene this that PDP working committee is being remote controlled and that is the truth and it is very dangerous and all the governors know that.

    “You cannot stay in your state and you will be remote controlling what happens in other states. Unless that changes you will see a lot of governors leaving the party,” he warned

    Governor Umahi also said he is not desperate to be President.

    He said he will be a happy man if a President of Southeast extraction is elected in 2023 even if that person is not him.

  • BREAKING: All Ebonyi NASS lawmakers abandon Umahi, choose to remain in PDP

    BREAKING: All Ebonyi NASS lawmakers abandon Umahi, choose to remain in PDP

    By Emman Ovuakporie

    All lawmakers elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) representing Ebonyi State at the National Assembly (NASS) on Wednesday said they won’t defect with Governor Dave Umahi to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that Umahi formally defected on Tuesday today All Progressives Congress (APC) calling himself the sacrificial offering for an Igbo presidency in 2023.

    The Ebonyi PDP caucus in the national assembly dissociated themselves from the defection of Gov. Dave Umahi to the ruling All Progressive Congress.

    The caucus was led by former governor of state, Sen. Sam Egwu.

    All three Senators and all members of the house dissociated themselves from the governor’s defection.

    They lawmakers accepted that it is now the turn of the South East to produce the next president of the country and they expect both parties to respect that fact.

    Details shortly…