Minister of Works, David Umahi, on Tuesday said that the Southeast will not vote on sentiment as it did during the last general election, saying that the Igbo will vote massively for President Bola Tinubu and Governor Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi State in the 2027 general election.

He insisted that the region’s interests are better secured through strategy, unity and constructive engagement rather than sentiments.

Umahi made the assertion at his country home in Uburu, Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State, while receiving various political, religious and community groups who paid him a Christmas homage.

Addressing the gathering, the former Ebonyi State governor said the Southeast has no reason to deceive itself about its political choices, stressing that President Tinubu has demonstrated commitment to the development of the region through major infrastructure projects.

“You ask me what the President has done for the Southeast, and I will tell you what he has done for the Southeast,” Umahi said.

Enumerating various ongoing federal projects as evidence of inclusion of the region, Umahi declared, “We are talking about real projects, not social media sentiments.”

He listed the Second Niger Bridge, the Enugu–Onitsha (Nnewi) Road, the Owerri–Aba Road, and other major highways across the region as tangible achievements of the Tinubu administration, describing them as the “real Biafra” the people should focus on.

“The road to Onitsha is Biafra. The Second Niger Bridge is Biafra. These are the Biafra we are looking for — not the Biafra of sentiments or social media,” he said.

Umahi emphasised that Nigeria is built on a tripod and warned against any action that would weaken one leg of the nation.

He noted that the Southeast has been marginalised historically but argued that such marginalisation can only be addressed through wisdom, political strategy and national engagement.

“We can never win by sentiments. We can never win by hate. We can only win by strategy. When it is our turn to become President, we must be wise enough to position ourselves.”

The minister called on Southeast people across the country to obey the laws and cultures of their host communities, urging them to remain humble, courageous and law-abiding wherever they reside.

“Nigeria belongs to all of us. Nobody should intimidate us, but we must also respect the culture and laws of wherever we find ourselves,” he added.

Umahi assured his visitors that the Southeast is now more included at the federal level and urged the region to reciprocate the current administration’s gestures with massive electoral support.
“Our votes will not be wasted on sentiments again. The Southeast will be strategic, and the Southeast will vote massively for President Tinubu,” he declared.