A constitutional lawyer and seasoned social commentator, Emmanuel Umohinyang has alleged that most governors in Nigeria despite increased allocations do not care about ending poverty.

Umohinyang who played pivotal role in the success of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 presidential election. He was convener of Re-elect Buhari Movement (RBM), also said that President Bola Tinubu will defeat former Vice President of Nigeria and the flagbearer of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Atiku Abubakar and the Presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) Peter Obi, with ease in 2027.

Umohinyang said this in Lagos while interacting with The Guardian.

When asked about the harsh economy and the assessment of the President Tinubu’s government, he said: “We can say that there was no adequate preparation to deal with the challenge that will come which will the excruciating poverty in the land. I agree that the government did not put strong structure in place to cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy and the exchange rate but I’m one of those who told President Bola Tinubu that he will not be able to remove the subsidy if he fail to announce it on the podium.

The moment you come down from the podium, the mafias will feast on you, using the Nigeria Labour Union Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to let you know that it’s impracticable. Advisers will come to suggest that the four refineries can be fixed.

“While the president has tried to solve the problem of lack and scarcity of resources in the federation, the President by his action created excruciating poverty in various homes but who are those responsible to deal with the issue of poverty? They are state governors. The president was speaking from the abundance of information he has when he told state governors to wet the grass they mow. This is the same Bola Tinubu who has been in the vanguard of dealing with poverty in his own capacity even after he left government in Lagos State.

Addressing poverty is not giving people a derica of rice or a bowl of garri. The federal government is doing its best but most governors are not willing, most governors are happy that their people are in poverty; most governors are sitting on the money and diverting for their personal use and comfort and that’s why most of them prefer building useless flyover so they can get kickbacks from contractors.”

Some governors are less interested in ending poverty, the security and safety of their people, rather they want white elephant projects so that they can make money from them.

Apart from governor of Lagos, Abia and Enugu State who have taken security as a duty but the charlatans amongst the state governors run to Abuja whenever there is security issue in their state.
I’m aware of a state governor who is looking for less than 20,000 people as state police officers. Some will steal the money and put a few characters and parade them as state police officers.

On the assessment of the three leading candidates for the 2027 elections, he said:
“I think this is one election my candidate, Bola Tinubu will win so easily. The president would have been worried if the expected coalition had found its feet in the sand of time. The APC would have also done what it can to make sure that the house scatter. I am not a member of the APC but I’ve always been supporting the progressives. There are two opposition candidates with vaulting ambition and this is their final hour. Peter Obi is close to 70 and he can say anything for Nigeria to make him a president.

People know that Obi cannot fulfil the promise of ruling for four years. The promise is what I call a political heresy of the century. He knows that he’s not a man that can keep to his word. He told Odumegwu Ojukwu that he would never leave the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) but he defected to the PDP, then Labour Party to the ADC and now he has landed in Henry Seriake Dickson’s water boat called NDC.

Obi doesn’t know that Musa Kwankwaso is clever, a grand patron in the business of politics. Kwankwaso knows that they will not win the election but he has to remain in the NDC so that he can hijack the party after the 2027 elections and drive away Dickson the same way he did with the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) because his desire is to contest the 2031 elections.

I like Obi for his sonorous voice, I enjoy him when he tries to display his immaterial humility but he’s polluted by his inability to stand by what he says.
I’m not saying that Bola Tinubu is a saint but having looked at the political turf, I may rather want to vote for a repented thief than to cast my vote for a deceitful priest.

Atiku is worst hit in this election; Atiku report card is littered with red inks. Atiku is not electable. Atiku’s former wife in the morning collected $500 million and in the evening a contract was awarded to a company that has no left or right in energy delivery. I’m not saying that Atiku has been convicted of any offense but how do we describe a man who even the shadow around him is stained with criminality?

The third candidate, President Bola Tinubu; here is a man who came into office in spite of the fact that the power that be were not happy with his candidature. He’s a man who came into office and said he acknowledged the pain and that he would have done something different if there were any other options. Tinubu has not done everything right but I can see the structure and the foundation he has created.

Nigeria has become a construction site under his watch so, let’s give him another opportunity in office to conclude the reform.