By Joy Onu
The Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has urged traditional rulers, religious leaders and community leaders in Ebonyi State to participate actively in politics, warning that silence could weaken their influence over decisions affecting their communities and the country’s future.
Umahi made the call on Sunday, November 1, 2026, during a town hall meeting with Ebonyi stakeholders at the Christian Ecumenical Centre, Abakaliki. The meeting was organised by the Directorate of Infrastructure, Mobilisation and Sensitisation of the 2027 All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council.
The gathering, attended by serving and former senators, state lawmakers, members of the State Executive Council, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) leaders, traditional rulers, presidents-general and other prominent stakeholders, ended with a unanimous endorsement of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru for re-election in 2027.
Addressing the participants, Umahi challenged the perception among traditional rulers, particularly in the Southeast, that politics was outside their responsibilities, arguing that political involvement was connected to democracy, development and the welfare of the people.
He said traditional rulers, as custodians of peace and development in their communities, should guide their subjects towards making informed political choices.
“It is only in the Southeast that our traditional fathers will say they don’t play politics. Politics is about democracy; it is about development, and our traditional fathers are about development. They are about making the right choices,” he said.
The minister also urged religious leaders to move beyond preaching from the pulpit and participate in discussions and processes that shape leadership and governance.
“If the religious leaders only stay on their pulpit to tell us what we are not doing right, they are missing it. They have to be part of the foundation of our leaders. And they say that the only way for evil to thrive is for good men to keep quiet,” he stated.
Reflecting on Ebonyi’s political experience, Umahi said the people had remained silent for too long on issues affecting their interests and needed to take responsibility for determining the state’s direction.
“We have kept quiet as much as Ebonyi people. So, the essence of our coming is: choose you this day the path that we should follow. We are not going to express sentiments here. We are people that God has liberated,” he declared.
He stressed that political freedom required deliberate choices and active participation, adding that the future of the state rested with its people.
“You can’t keep quiet and be able to get that which belongs to you. We have been liberated, but the choice to be free is in our hands. And no matter the sentiments, the future of Ebonyi State is in the hands of Ebonyi people,” he added.
Earlier, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Community Engagement (Southeast), Hon. Chioma Nweze, called for greater political unity in the region, saying a collective voting pattern could strengthen its bargaining power at the national level.
She argued that the Southeast’s inability to support the winning political platform had weakened its participation in national decision-making and contributed to complaints of marginalisation.
“As Southeast people, our votes can only swing in our favour if we vote in a bloc. We have always negotiated from outside the room because we don’t vote for the winning party, and marginalisation is hard to fix from outside the room,” she said.
Nweze urged the region to secure a place in national negotiations to gain greater leverage in demanding appointments and other opportunities.
“We have to be able to take our seats. We have to have a voice inside when decisions are taken. We have to have the leverage to ask for more if we can go to the centre and say, these are the votes we bring; we need more appointments,” she added.
The meeting’s major resolution was a vote of confidence and endorsement of Tinubu and Nwifuru for another term in 2027.
Moving the motion, Senator Julius Ali Ucha said Ebonyi had benefited from the present administration, particularly through Umahi’s appointment as Minister of Works. He described the appointment as an opportunity for the state to contribute to national development.
Ucha consequently urged eligible voters and political leaders in Ebonyi to adopt the APC and support its candidates in the presidential, governorship, National Assembly and State House of Assembly elections.
Seconding the motion, Senator Anthony Agbo described Umahi as a prominent political figure whose achievements had brought recognition to Ebonyi and demonstrated the capacity of the Igbo to excel in leadership.
“Senator David Umahi, you are a phenomenon. You are a mighty man. There is no political weather that is shaking you anywhere. You have displayed the primordial traits of the Igbo person that distinguishes an Igbo man, and through you, people have come to understand what an Igbo man can do in leadership,” Agbo said.
He commended Umahi’s resilience in the face of political opposition, maintaining that his achievements had strengthened his political profile.
“Everybody wants to be like you, and those who cannot be like you must attack you. But I tell you, your personality has grown so mighty that it has become so impervious to the blunt teeth of the opposition. So, I commend you. You are a great and mighty son of this state, and you have made us proud by doing what the Napoleons could not do in the history of this country,” he declared.
Agbo added that Umahi’s name would remain prominent in Nigeria’s history regardless of political differences before formally seconding the motion.
Putting the motion to a vote, Umahi called on the stakeholders to take the resolution beyond the meeting venue through door-to-door mobilisation across their communities.
He said the proposed support for Tinubu would enable the President to complete his constitutionally permitted eight-year tenure, facilitate the completion of ongoing federal projects in Ebonyi, attract new ones and secure additional federal appointments for the state.
Umahi also endorsed Nwifuru for a second term, saying the governor should complete eight years in office. He further expressed his position that the next governor should emerge from the North Senatorial Zone and be Nwifuru.
“That Ebonyi State will massively vote for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to complete his eight years in office and for all the projects in Ebonyi State to be completed and for new ones to be initiated, and for more appointments to Ebonyi State,” he declared.
He added: “That the next Governor of Ebonyi State shall come from the North Senatorial Zone and shall be Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru to complete his eight years. We will take this message from door to door, that Ebonyi State is APC and we will vote for all APC candidates from top to bottom.”
The stakeholders overwhelmingly affirmed the motion amid applause and ovations.
