Nollywood actress and activist Hilda Dokubo has taken aim at Minister of Works Dave Umahi over the tone of an APC campaign event in Ebonyi State, arguing that politicians keep chasing votes instead of accounting for what they have delivered.
In a video she shared on Instagram on November 14, 2026, Dokubo reacted while watching footage of Umahi speaking at the APC presidential rally in Abakaliki. Days earlier, on November 9, the former Ebonyi governor had pledged that the state would deliver 1.3 million votes for President Bola Tinubu in the 2027 election, tying the figure to federal road projects in the South-East.
Dokubo pushed back on the focus.
“When will these people start campaigning based on their achievements? Dave Umahi, list the things you have done for your people,” she said. “Government does what government should, but somehow we have to applaud a single person? Is it Tinubu’s money he’s using? Is it not our money?”
She also questioned the arithmetic of the pledges.
“Everyone keeps promising millions of votes for Tinubu, they don’t know they all have just a single vote. Everyone on the campaign ground themselves aren’t even up to a million. How many people are registered voters? These people are mad o. It’s not every time you people keep talking about votes, votes.”
In the same clip she added that roughly 300,000 registered voters were being discussed in one context while politicians promised 1.3 million, asking where the extra votes would come from and whether they were treating the election as if ballots were stored somewhere for collection.
“It doesn’t seem like it’s the citizens that’ll be casting votes,” she said.
Earlier in 2026, Dokubo criticised Tinubu’s handling of insecurity, rejecting the use of biblical parables and saying ordinary Nigerians needed protection rather than sermons. She has also spoken out on other governance issues while remaining active in Nollywood and political circles, including as a Labour Party figure in Rivers State.
Reactions online split. Many defenders listed Umahi’s record as minister, pointing to projects such as the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, sections of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, the Afikpo-Uturu-Okigwe road, and other South-East corridors. Others noted that Ebonyi’s 2023 turnout was far below the 1.3 million figure Umahi announced, with accredited voters in the state then around 338,000.