Politics
By Anthony Isibor
MAJ-GEN. Abel Obi Umahi (Rtd) has declared his support for the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Peter Obi, in the February 25, 2023 presidential election.
Umahi told Realnews in an exclusive interview in Lagos that he became an ardent Obi follower because he believes that Obi is the only candidate who has the largest support of the youths and after he discovered the things that Obi did when he was the governor of Anambra state.
He said that Obi did things as a governor in Anambra State that were strange to the system.
“I understand what Obi did in Anambra, but I never took time to study it in-depth. He did things in Anambra that were not common in the political landscape of this nation. Dealing with infrastructure, saving money for the state, making investments that the state is still reaping from till today, and when he was disengaging, he didn’t sign a bill that says approve this, this are my entitlement for disengagement as a governor,
“No! He doesn’t get any of such social benefits, he wasn’t owing pension, he wasn’t owing gratuities, he wasn’t owing workers, he wasn’t owing teachers at the time he disengaged as governor.
“He saved quantum funds for the state. That is what governance is all about. The level of education in Anambra went high during his leadership,” he said.
Gen. Umahi, who is the elder brother of the Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, explained that his support for the Labour Party Presidential candidate is not about emotions and primordial considerations, but about the betterment of the country.
Narrating one of his experiences abroad, Umahi noted that a person is as rich and respected as his country is.
“If you are rich as an individual, and your nation has no good name outside, you are categorized as your nation. Where they dump your nation is where they dump you. They can’t single you out and say this is a rich man. In any case, even when you travel out and you are on a queue, who knows if you are a rich man or not.
“So, you may be a minister, you may have all the money in this nation, but if the image of Nigeria is not right, you suffer it when you travel out.
“This is not about my brother.
“He has his own conscience, I have mine, ok. We are still brothers, we are good, we have a good relationship, but on this particular issue, I declared my choice of person based on his antecedent; my brother is not running for president, and I see someone who is running for president that my heart meets his own heart.
“The state of our nation is beyond emotions and primordial considerations. My brother is still my brother, but we must get it right in Nigeria.
“I am a staunch believer in the Nigerian project, and I can do anything to ensure that this Nigeria succeeds, because I have had some experiences that gave me a shock.
“Infact, the smaller ones, especially the youths, all want a new Nigeria. So we are sympathetic to your situation, I am sympathetic to the situation of my children, my grandchildren, and those unborn. If they pass through what we are seeing now, even when my children understood that I am obedient, they broke out in jubilation, because perhaps, they might not want to stand the shame of saying that their father was against the rebirth of a new Nigeria, but I did not consult with them before I chose where I pitch my tent,” he said.
Umahi, who also expressed confidence that Obi would emerge victorious in the Saturday poll, said that the youths who are ready to ensure that a new Nigeria is actualized, and on Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for his bold initiative with the introduction of the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System, B-VAS, said that there were the source of his confidence.
He noted that the introduction of BVAS can be called a bold step. Very, very bold. You know that the same National Assembly that passed that vote came against it when they discovered what it meant, they came against it. But Buhari has already accented to it and he refused to recount.
“The introduction of BVAS is a great thing, it is a credit to the Chairman of INEC. The only problem is that, we do not understand fully the technicalities of BVAS. There has never been voters’ education beyond the superficial on the technicalities of BVAS, we have never had any person come to tell us that BVAS is full proof. They just told us that if we want to do accreditation, it has to be with BVAS, and after recording the result, we should look at the face and make sure that 000 is on it, that even if there is no server when you send it at that point, ones they get to where there is service, BVAS will automatically send it. That’s all we know.
“We do not know the possibility of hacking into the server of INEC, we do not know the possibility of compromising the information that is entering, we do not know if there are some other things that can be done to be able to disable BVAS. We don’t know all those. But based on the information at our disposal, we think that these old politicians are afraid of BVAS; that is what is encouraging us also.
“They don’t like BVAS , so they say that in the north, there are many places without service, but they said don’t worry, when they get to where there is service, it will send automatically; and then, NCC says, no it will work everywhere in Nigeria. So that gladdens our heart. And the obedient, because each of them is contesting for the president through Obi and are prepared to die at the pooling units. And you know that Obidents have several several layers; there is this movement, there is that movement, and each of these movements will want to outdo the other, making sure that the correct result is uploaded,” he added.
A.I
Tags: INEC Labour Party Mahmood Yakubu MAJ-GEN. Abel Obi Umahi (Rtd) . Peter Obi
