RismadarVoice Reporters
October 5, 2026
Minister of Works Dave Umahi has predicted that President Bola Tinubu will win all five South-East states in the 2027 presidential election, saying the President is positioned to record significantly more votes in the region than the All Progressives Congress did in 2023.
Umahi predicted during an interview on Sunday Politics, where he discussed Tinubu’s electoral prospects and the APC’s growing political influence in the South-East.
“The President is going to harvest a lot of votes in the South-East,” Umahi said.
Asked how many of the region’s five states he expected the APC to win, the former Ebonyi State governor said he was working towards delivering the entire zone.
“My faith is telling me we will win the five states. I’m working for it. I’m explaining to our people,” he said.
Umahi urged residents of the South-East to move away from what he described as regional politics and build stronger political relationships across Nigeria.
“We shouldn’t play regional politics. It doesn’t help us. As a region, we should be able to, you know, have a handshake across the nation,” he said.
The minister also dismissed suggestions that Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, poses a major electoral threat to Tinubu and the APC in the region.
Umahi argued that Obi is not the only presidential candidate from the South-East and said the APC would campaign on what he described as the Tinubu administration’s record in the region.
He, however, said his position should not be interpreted as underestimating Obi.
In the 2023 presidential election, Obi, then the Labour Party candidate, won all five South-East states, while the APC recorded relatively limited support across the region.
Umahi attributed that performance partly to what he described as the South-East’s marginalisation under the previous administration.
He argued that the situation had changed under Tinubu, pointing to federal appointments and infrastructure projects as evidence of greater inclusion.
The APC currently controls Imo, Enugu and Ebonyi states, while the Labour Party controls Abia and the All Progressives Grand Alliance controls Anambra.
Umahi’s prediction comes as political parties intensify preparations for the 2027 general election, with the South-East expected to remain an important battleground between the APC, NDC and other political parties.
