The National Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Professor Nentawe Yilwatda on Monday said that the numerous projects being executed by President Ahmed Tinubu across the states in the southeast will give him upper hand over other Presidential candidates during the next year general election.

Yilwatda stated this at the Abakaliki township stadium during a mega rally organized by Ebonyi state government and Minister of Works Senator David Umahi in which President Ahmed Tinubu and other APC candidates for next year general election where adopted as their candidates for next year general election noted that what Mr. President has done for the zone no other President has done that expressing confidence that Tinubu will not only in Ebonyi State but entire South East.

Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, on Monday declared that the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has no place in the state in next year’s general election.

He highlighted some of the projects being executed by the Federal Government, including the dualisation of the Enugu-Abakaliki road, Enugu-Onitsha expressway, Enugu-Okigwe-Aba-Port Harcourt corridor, and the Calabar Super Highway connecting Ebonyi, Benue, Nasarawa and Abuja, adding that the projects were too numerous to mention.

He thanked Anambra State Governor, Professor Charles Soludo; his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodinma; and Enugu State Governor, Peter Mbah, who was represented by his deputy, for their attendance and support for the President’s re-election bid.

The APC National Chairman also used the occasion to dismiss growing insinuations in some quarters that Ebonyi State had been conceded to the PDP ahead of the 2027 general election.

Dismissing the claim, Yilwatda said the state would not allow the PDP to win any position in the forthcoming general election.

“We will return President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Francis Nwifuru as Governor of Ebonyi State in 2027.

“We want to return all APC senators, members of the House of Representatives and House of Assembly candidates in 2027.

“Nobody has conceded Ebonyi to the PDP. Therefore, there is no vacancy in Ebonyi State. Ebonyi PDP has no place, and there is no vacancy at all in the Government House come 2027,” the APC National Chairman declared.

He commended the people of the state for their support for Tinubu and urged them to re-elect him in the next presidential election in appreciation of what he has done for the state and the entire South-East through infrastructural transformation and human capital development.

Governor Francis Nwifuru, who also spoke at the event, said the state had no other presidential candidate for the 2027 general election apart from President Bola Tinubu.

He declared that Ebonyi remained a stronghold of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and vowed that the party would deliver the President in the state.

Nwifuru said Tinubu had shown exceptional commitment to the state and deserved total support for appointing Senator David Umahi as Minister of Works, a role he said Umahi had performed creditably.

“Ebonyi has no other presidential candidate apart from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and we will return him in the presidential election.

“We are standing here today to tell the whole world, especially those using the President’s name to orchestrate division and confusion in this great state, that we have only one party, and that is the APC.

“This statement became necessary because some people are going around claiming they have discussed with Mr President and that he has handed Ebonyi over to the PDP. They are also saying that Chief Nyesom Wike is their leader and that Wike said the President has given Ebonyi to him.

“Ebonyi is not for sale. We are restraining ourselves because the people are with us. Nobody should push us because we have what it takes to confront anyone trying to destabilise us.

“We want to tell Mr President that he has earned our votes. He gave us what we had never had in Eastern Nigeria — the office of the Minister of Works. And this Minister of Works is not sitting idle; he is working,” he stated.

Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, said President Bola Tinubu had done what no other President had done for Ebonyi State and the entire South-East by executing numerous projects across the state and the region.

“Ebonyi State is a one-party state under Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru. We are not going to repeat the mistakes of the past.

“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done a lot, not just for Ebonyi State but for the entire South-East and other geopolitical zones,” he said.