Dave Umahi, governor of Ebonyi state says he was surprised that his relations voted for Peter Obi, presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the February 25 elections.
Umahi, a senator-elect for Ebonyi south spoke in an interview with Channels Television.
The governor said he did not expect that the LP would win elections in his state, describing the situation as “protest votes”.
“In all honesty, I did not give any chance to Labour Party to win the election in my state because what we put on the ground is such that no any political party should be able to win anything, not even the councilorship election in Ebonyi state,” Umahi said.
Advertisement
“And so, I see the election or the votes of Labour Party as a kind of protest vote, against my party, against the PDP. I was very surprised that even in my family, there was a conspiracy against me, and I did not know that they were going to vote for Labour Party in the presidential election.
“So, it’s very surprising that Mr. President could lose his state at the presidential election level and Asiwaju could lose Lagos state.
“Let me tell you that the religious leaders in my state totally were for the labour movement.
Advertisement
“That’s why I saw it as a kind of protest vote. It wasn’t a vote for his excellency Obi as such.”
“There is seemingly hardship and challenges in Nigeria. But, if you evaluate it very, very well, you will find out that it’s a thing of the entire world.”
In the presidential election, the LP candidate won Ebonyi state with 259,738 to defeat Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Tinubu polled 42,402 votes, Atiku secured 13,503 votes, and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) came fourth with 1,661 votes.
Advertisement
Umahi, who was first elected as the governor in 2015 on the platform of PDP defected to the APC on November 11, 2020.
Add a comment
