Prominent Igbo leaders, including the governors of the five South-east states, are planning a summit to declare support for President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027, an official has said.
Works Minister Dave Umahi said this in an upcoming State House documentary marking President Tinubu’s second anniversary, presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga wrote in a statement.
“All the governors in the South-east, regardless of party affiliation, are working with the president. We’re even planning a summit to bring together all South-east leaders to endorse the president for the 2027 elections formally,” Mr Umahi, the immediate past governor of Ebonyi State, said.
Mr Tinubu has yet to formally declare his intention to run for a second term, but is expected to do so.
The president narrowly won the 2023 presidential election, winning in only 12 of Nigeria’s 36 states.
Mr Tinubu lost in all five South-east states – Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, Imo and Abia – scoring less than 10 per cent of the total votes cast in the region.
Of the five states, two – Imo and Ebonyi – are officially governed by the APC, while the other three are governed by three different political parties.
ALSO READ: 2027: All South-east governors behind Tinubu, Umahi says
Mr Umahi, however, claimed that all five governors are working for the president.
While Mr Tinubu lost in all five South-east states in 2023, Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi won in all of them, scoring over 75 per cent of the total votes cast in the region.
In his interview, Mr Umahi urged Mr Obi to drop his presidential ambition and support Mr Tinubu’s re-election bid.
Details later…
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