Gov Umahi denies asking Ebonyi people not to vote Peter Obi

The Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi has debunked reports making the rounds that he asked people of the state to vote for only the All Progressives Congress, APC in the 2023 presidential elections.

Reports emerged on Monday alleging that Umahi had said the state will not vote Mr. Peter Obi of Labour Party, LP, claiming that Ebonyi is for APC.

Umahi was said to have stated this while addressing political leaders, traditional rulers, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, among other stakeholders of the state during the swearing-in of five commissioners, the states head of service, HOS, which had taken place at the new government house in Abakaliki.

But Umahi, in a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Francis Nwaze said he was only reiterating his earlier promise to support the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

The statement reads partly, “Our attention has been drawn to insinuations in some quarters suggesting that the Ebonyi State Governor, Engr. David Umahi, FNSE, FNATE has specifically asked Ebonyi People not to vote for a particular candidate in the 2023 Presidential election.

“What Governor Umahi did during a Stakeholders’ meeting on Monday was in the spirit of sportsmanship to emphasize his earlier resolve to support the eventual winner of the Presidential election who later turned out to be Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu.

“The statement by Governor Umahi by all standards only underscored his determination to live up to his earlier comment of supporting the Party’s Standard Bearer”.