Umahi has met Buhari, declared his 2023 presidential ambition.
Glamtush reports that Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, has declared his intention to run for the office of President in 2023.
This online platform understands that Umahi disclosed this to State House Correspondents on Tuesday after a closed-door meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The governor’s visit to the Villa comes barely 24 hours after the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, met Buhari to notify him of his presidential ambition.
Emerging from the President’s office on Tuesday, Umahi confirmed that he discussed the issue with Buhari, who asked him to go and seek the support of the people.
Umahi, speaking at a press briefing after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said his presidency will replicate his progressive efforts in Ebonyi at the national level.
He said he intends to bring a business-like spirit into governance.
According to him, President Buhari responded to his interest by asking him to seek the support of the people.
Umahi, who doubles as Chairman of the South East Governors’ Forum, is also canvassing for a political solution to the insecurity problems in the region.
He believes that if the self-acclaimed leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, is willing and open to engagement, peace will return to the South East.
This comes a day after a chieftain of the APC, Bola Tinubu, said he had informed President Buhari of his intention to contest the presidential election in 2023.
He, however, declared that he had yet to inform Nigerians of his intention to succeed the President.
According to Tinubu, the President is a democrat and therefore, has not asked him to stop the pursuit of his ambition which for him is life-long.
The APC leader and former Governor of Lagos State stressed that he has the confidence, vision, and capacity to build on the foundation laid by President Buhari to turn around the fortunes of the country.
The governor said he is undeterred by Tinubu’s presence, saying that the contest is not about might.
Recall that Umahi defected from Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC in November 2020.
