Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, on Monday stated that God will give Nigeria a president “who has a good heart like President Muhammadu Buhari for the good of this country” in 2023.
Umahi revealed this while addressing State House correspondents after meeting with the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The governor applauded the President on some landmark projects in the South East, especially the Second Niger Bridge which, he said, was becoming a reality.
When asked about his reason for visiting the State House, Umahi said, “I came to see, Mr. President. One is to thank him very highly for a number of mega projects that he is doing in the southeast. The second Niger Bridge is fast becoming a reality. Each time we visit that bridge location, it is always like a dream.
“So, we the people of the South East are very grateful to Mr. President for this.
“We also thank him for the award of these Eastern corridors of the railway line. This is a project that is going to fast track the commercial activities of our people.
“I recall that when I was in school, I used to take a train from my state, Ebonyi and then get up to Maiduguri where my brothers were staying, for my holidays. Mr. President is about restoring that hope. We are deeply very grateful.
“But I also reminded Mr. President that one of his cardinal objectives is to integrate South East or the state capitals, but in putting together the project through South East that is the capital of Ebonyi state, which is Abakaliki and capital of Anambra state, which is Awka, were omitted.
“And I reminded Mr. President that the South East governors had requested that I write, which I did, but not yet approved by the Honourable Minister of Transport, which Mr. President said he will find out why they were omitted in the first place.
“I am very, very hopeful that Mr. President is going to give approval to those two locations. And also the limestone granos to fast-track the fertiliser presidential initiative, which has helped the country Nigeria so much in food sufficiency.
“Let me point out that without the effort of Mr. President, through this fertiliser initiative and other programmes in the agricultural sector, it would have been a very difficult time for this country. And so that project is supposed to produce a large set of granules to enable us to produce fertilisers to serve the South-South, South East and part of North Central.”
Asked if the South East leaders were working together to ensure that the two major political parties have one candidate from the zone for presidency in 2023, Umahi said, “Well, for me, I’m very much entrenched in completing my projects. And I will look into politics when my tenure has one year remaining, which is from May 29, 2022. And I think it is the same thing with other governors of the South East and by extension, governors of APC.
“My position about what you ask is that our people that are in those political parties are making the effort in selling the need for the South East to produce the next president. But I think both the governors and Mr. President should not be distracted, when the elections are done and won, it should be governance.
“But in this country, the moment the election is completed, the next one starts. It is the masses that are being cheated. So those whose jobs are politics and who are not into elected position, or appointed position have all the time and the opportunity to do this conversing.
“But I continue to say that power rests in the hands of God. And God will also give us the next president who has a good heart like President Buhari for the good of this country.
“We need God’s own anointing for our own anointed President for the interest and unity of this country.”