In response to accusations of incitement made against him, Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s nominee for president in the 2023 presidential election, has retaliated against David Umahi, the Minister of Works.
Speaking during a stakeholders’ meeting on the contentious Lagos-Calabar road project on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, in Lagos, Umahi accused Obi of stirring the southeast region’s populace against the federal government.
Prior to this, Obi had opposed the project, calling it an inappropriate priority. Additionally, the former Anambra State governor denounced the project’s “insensitive” property demolition.
Umahi responded to this by criticising Obi for his remarks regarding the project at his meeting with stakeholders in Lagos.
He claimed that during Obi’s tenure as Anambra State governor, he was in favour of demolishing structures to make way for new roads.
Umahi remarked, “When you judge someone, you bring judgement upon yourself, and that is what he has done.”
Additionally, the minister charged Obi with inciting ignorant Nigerians in the southeast to rebel against the federal government.
“I believe he is inciting some of the south-east people who are not well-informed,” the man stated.
On Thursday, May 2, 2024, however, Obi responded to Umahi in a series of tweets, calling his accusations against him “baseless distractions.”
Obi rejects Umahi’s allegation of inciting.
Obi said in his tweets that Umahi’s accusations were meant to discredit him.
The former Anambra State governor declared that he would not engage in politics that would cause division and that his political ambitions were unrelated to any one ethnic group.
“Regarding accusations of incitement against the government, I firmly reject these baseless accusations intended to tarnish my reputation,” he declared.
“Instead of engaging in divisive politics, my focus is on fostering constructive dialogue and inclusivity.” Allegations of provocation are empty diversion. I have never supported division and progress and have shunned retrograde, polarising politics.
“I’m not going to sink to the level of people who get mired in ethnic politics,” Even worse, I have never—and I will never—go to the extent of basing my political goals on any kind of ethnic or sectional interest.
Obi also disputes Umahi’s claim of demolition.
During his tenure as Anambra State’s governor, Obi claimed he only destroyed buildings that were “obstructing existing roads and lacking approval.”
He gave the example of demolishing the local government headquarters in Onitsha North since it was built on the sole stadium still in existence in the community.
He said that he constructed a new building for the local government office away from the stadium following the structure’s demolition.
“My actions were calculated, with the goal of giving current infrastructure maintenance and repair precedence over initiatives that had a higher risk of interruption and devastation. This strategy attempted to protect Nigerians’ means of subsistence and guarantee the effective use of available resources,” he stated.
Comparing his action to the demolition of Landmark beach and other properties on the right-of-way of the Lagos-Calabar coastal road project, Obi claimed that his administration’s efforts were greatly out of sync with the road project in Lagos and that he had only cleared obstructions on existing roads to improve accessibility and safety for all.
“I concentrated on removing barriers on existing roads to enhance accessibility and safety for everyone,” stated Obi. The continued devastation and disruption of livelihoods and jobs linked to the construction of the Lagos-Calabar coastal route stands in stark contrast to the initiatives taken by my administration to enhance infrastructure while reducing negative effects on local communities.
By Pulse News