The Association of Ebonyi Indigenes Socio-Cultural in the Diaspora (AEISCID) has dismissed claims by Minister of Works, David Umahi, that he can deliver the South-East geopolitical zone to President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 general elections.

In a statement issued on Thursday in Abuja, AEISCID President Pascal Oluchukwu expressed dismay over what the group described as Umahi's denial of the marginalization of the South-East region and his boast that all South-East governors are supporting Tinubu for a second term regardless of their current political affiliations.

"People of the region are yet to see any vehement commitment from leaders like Umahi to use their influences to persuade the Tinubu administration to fix the real issues affecting our people," Oluchukwu stated.

The group highlighted several unresolved issues affecting the South-East, including the continued detention of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) leader Nnamdi Kanu despite calls for a state pardon, and recent challenges faced by JAMB candidates in the region which they claim appear targeted at South-East students.

"Ordinarily, if Umahi had the interest of the South East at heart, he should have been addressing these growing concerns on behalf of Ndigbo," the statement added.

AEISCID also criticized the state of infrastructure in the region, noting that despite Umahi's position as Minister of Works, no existing road infrastructure in the South-East has been completed in nearly two years. The group mentioned several critical highways including Enugu to Port Harcourt, Enugu-Onitsha, Onitsha-Owerri, Enugu to Abakaliki, and Afikpo to Okigwe that remain in deplorable conditions.

"We are aware that as a man insipidly desperate to impress his paymasters, Umahi is only interested in recouping gains and lots to be shared between him and his paymasters and not sincerely interested in actualizing the many bogus projects the administration has embarked upon such as the Lagos-Calabar coastal highway among others," the group alleged.

The statement comes after Umahi reportedly claimed in an interview for an upcoming State House documentary marking Tinubu's second anniversary that he could secure South-East support for the President in 2027.