Umahi impoverished Ebonyi for selfish ambition - Residents

Residents of Ebonyi State on Monday lambasted Governor David Umahi for his comment that he was still sad that the Igbos did not vote for him at the All Progressives Congress national convention, in Abuja last month alleging that the governor has impoverished the state for his selfish ambition.

It was then that they observed that Umahi had only pushed the state deeper into economic hardship and stagnation, when he allegedly took its meager financial and agricultural resources to the far north in pursuit of selfish interests.

According to them, the governor did not understand the political tide of the Fulani oligarchy before he consorted with them, adding that what happened to him in the just-concluded APC presidential primaries was a reward for his bad and high- handed governance back to the state.

The PUNCH reports that Governor Umahi, who is chairman of the Southeast Governors Forum, said on Friday that he was still saddened by the outcome and events that unfolded in the APC presidential primaries and the main opposition peoples. Democratic Party, which saw the emergence of Bola Tinubu and Atiku Abubarkar as candidates, respectively.

He had expressed his dissatisfaction with the role played by the people of the Southeast geopolitical zone, saying that their hide-and-seek attitude during the primaries raised a question about their agitation for the Igbo presidency.

A statement signed by the Governor's Special Assistant for the Media, Francis Nwaze, quoted Umahi saying this to Abakaliki, while receiving members of the Founding Fathers of Ebonyi State.

According to the Governor, the South Easters did not demonstrate the clamor for the Igbo Presidency during the primaries.

The statement read: "My heart is saddened by the outcome of the APC and PDP presidential primaries, because when we said we were calling for the president of the Southeast and it was time to demonstrate it , the people of the Southeast could not demonstrate it, so, it caused a lot of doubts about the sincerity of Southeast in their quest but if not for something else, I reached a state with a character and a proven content, we must be very proud of ourselves and we know that in God's time it will happen.

"My defection to the All Progressives Congress was in the interests of the state and the Southeast at large, but it was misjudged because if our people had taken my reasons seriously, probably, we would have been treated differently, especially in the party that we have invested so much in since 1999. But in the end, I became a prophet because everything I predicted came true."

But a resident, Chief Godwin Udeakaji, said Umahi remains the worst governor the state has ever had, adding that all government structures collapsed under his leadership.

Akaji said, “Umahi should go and rest. He destroyed Ebonyi State and the people of Ebonyi have never suffered so much.

“Umahi has destroyed all sectors of government - from the government system to development centers, the judiciary and even education. Nothing works in the state and he knows it. he came to power, no promotions and no real jobs.

"What visited Umahi in the APC presidential primaries was karma (not a punishment ooo); but, a reward for all the wrongs he had done in the state. He has made the people of Ebonyi so poor. He only cares about his family members and a few other buddies. Let him wait. More Karma will visit him soon. We are more saddened than 'Umahi brought our money, our rice and our big millions of yam tubers to the Fulanis to see if he could be part of Buhari's kitchen cupboard, not understanding the political tide of the Fulanis. will meet in due course."

The Tinubu Support Group Coordinator, Ebonyi Chapter, Alhaji Haroun Ajah said, "Let Umahi fend for himself and get his ticket to the Senate in court and not make noise about the presidency that he had no real intention of challenging."

Also speaking, a former state information commissioner, Chief Abia Onyike, said the governor had lived in a world of illusions, adding that no Ebonyian had ever taken him seriously .

According to Onyike, who is the Director of Media and Publicity, "Governor Umahi has been living in a world of illusion. I don't know how he perceives reality, but from his recent feuds with Ohanaeze Ndigbo whom he blamed for his recent APC presidential somersaults, it's pretty clear that Umahi had the wrong impression of himself. But no one took him seriously about his presidential ambition. He was a another instrument of embezzlement of public funds. The Ebonies are in big trouble because we produced a very strange guy like our leader in 2015 and we paid dearly for him.

“Ebonyi officials now live in abject poverty and cannot afford school fees for their children. This is the first time our generation...