Successorship: Opposition can't manipulate me in 2023 - Umahi

BY NATIONAL PANEL REPORTERS

Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State  declared on Sunday, that no amount of pressure from the camps of his political rivals would result into manipulation of his successor come 2023 general elections, NATIONAL PANEL reports.

He made the declaration during his 58th Birthday Thanksgiving Service at Christ Embassy Church in Abakaliki town.

The governor said his successor must be approved from a genuine alter of God and that he 'can't be manipulated by opposition in the state.'



“I can testify that Prayer is the key to our successes, and I want to thank CAN, the Divine Mandate Pastors and my Pastor for the solidarity. From this altar, my success came forth. 


“What is happening in Ebonyi State is not by the power of man but the power of God. If you want to manipulate me, you have to manipulate God first because I am protected by him.



“I want to ask anybody who wants to succeed me in 2023, every genuine altar of God is where your success can come from. It is good to depend on God, when you help the poor, when we trust God, when we put our faith in God, then we have less time for distractions," Umahi said.

He maintained that there would be no political squabbles in the election of his successor.

“If I call all the leaders of the state to bring in a successor, there will be no fight, but there will be a fight if I want someone to succeed me singlehandedly, that’s when there will be a fight," the governor stressed.



He further reiterated the commitment of his administration to complete all ongoing projects and even initiate new ones before his Leadership draws to a close in 2023.


“We are committed to completing all our ongoing projects especially the airport, the ring road, the stadium, we must complete the stadium and do two more flyovers, one at Ogbe Hausa, one at Afikpo and by 2022, we will do more empowerment in addition to what we are doing already” Umahi added.


Earlier in his sermon, the Pastor of Christ Embassy Church, Peter Oyeyemi charged people not to waste opportunities but to strive to touch the lives of people positively in their different capacities.


“We must use our positions to impact lives positively. Remember that the position you occupy today, you did not occupy it yesterday and you will not be there forever, so use your office to create a better tomorrow, remember that whatever we do today, our children’s children will pay for it, if you are blessed, you are supposed to be a blessing to people around you” he stated.


Umahi later visited patients at the Alex Ekwueme Federal Teaching Hospital Abakaliki and Motherless Babies Home, Nsugbe where he made cash donations in the spirit of his 58th birthday anniversary.



On his part, the CMD of AE-FETHA, Dr. Emeka Onwe and the Chairman of Nigeria Red Cross Society Motherless Babies Home, Chief Simon Nweze thanked the Governor for finding it worthy to identify with the less privileged as part of his 58th birthday.