…says Ebonyi not private estate

A Civil Society Organization, Save Nigeria Movement (SNM) has called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to be wary of the desperate antics of former governor Dave Umahi to foist his younger brother on the people as minister from Ebonyi state.

The CSO in a statement released on Wednesday in Abuja and signed by it’s convener Rev Solomon Semaka also urged the President to ensure for Inclusiveness for Sustainable Peace in SE

The pro democracy group noted that even though it remained apolitical, it was incumbent on the organization to offer interventions on political decisions that pose a threat to democracy and the people.

“Following concerns raised by wide media reports of attempts led by former governor Dave Umahi and now senator to nominate his younger brother Austine Umahi as Minister in President Tinubu’s government, it has become necessary to highlight the selfish tendencies of the Umahi family and their desperation to turn Ebonyi State into a family dynasty.

“While we recognize the right of every citizen to hold public office, it is morally necessary to censor the implications of contemplating injustice let alone promote same by people who should promote fairness and justice and equity among their people.

“Let it be on record that anyone who seek to promote injustice and greed such as has become the pattern of the Umahi’s threatens the already fragile situation in Ebonyi and the South East .

“Our findings on this subject matter particularly reveal that Austine Umahi is the younger brother of the the immediate past governor of Ebonyi State who wielded much influence in the politics of the state and region during the 8 year tenure of his elder brother Gov Dave Umahi; now a serving Senator.

“Recall that former Gov Dave Umahi after two terms in office as governor in the build up to the 2023 general election ran for the Presidential ticket of the APC but lost to incumbent President Tinubu.

“How he transformed from the Presidential contest to successfully run for Senate in the same election year is still a subject of special inquiry by all democrats”. However, various media reports have detailed how the former governor snatched the Senate ticket from Mrs Ann Angom who was rightly declared winner by the law courts when Austine Umahi withdrew from the Ebonyi South senate race.

“Recall that former Gov Dave Umahi perhaps, out of fear , had pre-empted his loss at his party’s Presidential primary. To this end and to assert his interests and autocratic tendencies on the party and people of the state, Fmr Gov Dave Umahi co-opted his younger brother into the Senate race for the Ebonyi South district on the platform of the APC to hold sway for him as a placeholder, a strange political arrangement introduced by the likes of Umahi and other greedy politicians.

“To demonstrate the depths of greed and high octane ambition of the Umahi’s, a serving two term governor, running for Presidency could harass his party into giving his blood brother a Senate ticket while running for presidency” Of course Austin Umahi was the only trusted placeholder that his elder brother,Dave Umahi could trust to relinquish the ticket when the need arose.

“It is an open secret that when Dave Umahi failed to clinch the APC Presidential ticket, his younger brother Austine Umahi, now tipped as Minister indeed let go of the Senate ticket for his elder brother Dave.

“How else could the state be privatized? Ms Ann Angom, the second runner up during the said Primary election approached the court and got judgement: Delivering judgement on the matter, Justice Fatun Riman, cited Section 115 of the Electoral Act, 2022, saying the governor was not an aspirant and cannot participate in the election or pre-election matters of the All Progressives Congress as regards the Ebonyi South, whose primary held on May 28, 2022.

“But the rest they say is now history; using all manner of crude tactics including sanctioning the suspension of the rightful owner of the party ticket, after Austin Umahi withdrew , followed by threats and intimidation, fmr Gov Dave Umahi found his way into the Senate where he seeks to compensate his younger brother and consolidate the family grip on power to the detriment of others.

“Mr President , former Gov Dave Umahi alongside his younger brother Austine Umahi who is now tipped for a possible ministerial appointment in your cabinet because of self interest and greed has done and continue to do everything within reach to maintain a stronghold on the public purse and the people using intimidation and ill gotten wealth.

The group further noted that the development has led to the sorry state of affairs in the state.

“The people of Ebonyi State do not deserve the cruelty and greed brought upon them by former Gov Dave Umahi and his brothers after all the people have given to them individually and collectively.

“The Umahi’s are not the only people in Ebonyi State let alone the South East; if Mr President is made to believe by the former governor that no one else is competent except the Umahi’s, then Mr President must have a rethink, ” the group insisted.

The group expressed confidence and believes that Mr President is a true democrat and would not allow himself to be misled by the inordinate ambition of a single family especially as this act of desperation widens the uncertainties around growing insecurity in Ebonyi State and the South East region in general.