EBONYI State governor Dave Umahi has said the ‘Obedient’ political movement of Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate Peter Obi is anchored on equity, justice and fairness.
Umahi said this in a chat with newsmen shortly after a private meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the State House on Friday.
Umahi is one of the two governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the South-East.
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He contested the party’s presidential primary which former Lagos State governor Bola Tinubu won.
The governor said Obi’s acceptance across the country was an eye opener that has proved that the South-East would not be forgotten in Nigeria’s polity.
He also faulted those attributing the relative calm that has returned to the South-East, which had witnessed a high level of insecurity in recent months, to the presidential aspirations of the former Anambra State governor.
Umahi said just like the South-East, peace was returning to other parts of the country that had also been in distress.
“Peter Obi movement is a movement that is anchored on equity, justice and fairness,” he said.
“It may not translate to outright win because I must defend my party, I must wish my party well, and I’m having the ticket of my party. But whether what he is doing has meaning there, is not only in South-East, it does have meaning.
“So we must never attribute the killings in South-East to this kind of movement.
“You cannot technically assign the reduction in the killings to Igbo presidency, you can see that security generally is improving in the country. And it has nothing to do with the movement of Peter Obi.”
He said he wished that Obi would win the 2023 presidential election if his party, the APC, would not win, stressing that there was no equity for the Northern part of the country to retain the presidency after eight years of Buhari.
“Peter Obi’s movement and all the movements are authored on God’s will, it is only God who knows who will win, but there must be a wish. As a party man, I would wish that our party wins. And if God says no, the next person I wish that should win is Peter Obi.
“Because I believe strongly and I will say it anywhere, in this North-South presidency, after the north has taken eight years, there is no moral justification for the north to be seeking to take another eight years, it should go to the south. And so I’m not wishing Peter Obi away. God has the final say, and he has the power and gives to whomever He wishes.”
During his appearance on Arise Television earlier this month, Umahi said he would host Obi in Ebonyi, publicly.
He described Obi as a friend and denied ever saying that Obi would not get any vote in his state.
“I never in all my outings and utterances mentioned Peter Obi.
“Peter Obi is my friend, I’m going to host him in Ebonyi State and I will host him publicly. I like what he’s doing, and it’s very encouraging,” he said.
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