Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, has dismissed allegations by the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, that his life is under threat, insisting that no one wants the former Anambra State governor dead.
Umahi said Obi would remain alive to contest the 2027 presidential election but would suffer another electoral defeat.
The minister made the remarks on Friday while inspecting ongoing federal legacy infrastructure projects in Ebonyi State.
According to Umahi, Obi’s claims were borne out of political frustration, arguing that the current administration’s developmental strides in the South-East had diminished the opposition politician’s influence in the region.
“Nobody wants Obi dead; it’s not reasonable. We all want him alive to contest this election and watch himself lose again. What he is afraid of is because he said the South-East is his catchment area because of the last election, which I call an accident of history,” Umahi said.
He maintained that President Bola Tinubu’s administration had demonstrated commitment to the South-East through visible infrastructure projects and greater inclusion of the region in national governance.
“We have come with visible development in the zone, and our people have now agreed with us that we are better off with President Tinubu completing the good works he is doing for us than playing what I call artificial intelligence (AI) kind of politics,” he added.
Umahi also reiterated his readiness to publicly debate Obi on the performance of the Tinubu administration, particularly its achievements in the South-East, insisting that the region had benefited significantly from the federal government’s policies and projects.
Meanwhile, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, also criticised Obi over a separate incident involving officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
Keyamo maintained that the former Labour Party presidential candidate should apologise to FAAN personnel and pay the prescribed penalty for what he described as a wrongful parking incident at an airport.
The comments by the two ministers come amid an ongoing exchange between the federal government and Obi over his recent claims of harassment and concerns about his personal safety.
