A
group of Abia professionals, South East businessmen and technocrats
have thrown their weight behind Dr. Alex Otti following his
declaration last week to re-run for the Governorship election in the
state come 2019.
Dr.
Otti a former Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank, Plc., and the
governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA),
in Abia State in 2015, has oiled his political machines to sack the
incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in 2019.
The
gathering of the group is just one of the arsenals in the armouring
of Otti’s growing numbers of supporters, some of whom are decampees
of the incumbent governor.
Speaking
at a business meeting in Lagos, tagged: TimeOut with Alex, where the
banker-turned politician was hosted, the group vowed to use their
means and power to force the incumbent out of Government House
Umuahia and collect the mandate that was stolen from Dr. Otti in
2015.
They
described the present state of Aba, the enviable commercial cum
industry hub of the South-East region of Nigeria as decaying city
that needs urgent restoration picking Dr. Otti as the man that is fit
for the job of restoring the lost glory of Aba for the benefit
Abians.
According
to the Chief Executive Officer of Emzor Pharmaceuticals Limited, Dr.
Stella Okoli, God has appointed Dr. Otti as the messiah to restore
the glory of Abia for the benefit of the people of the South East.
She
said: “I believe that Dr. Otti is intelligent and a well-read man
with great understanding of the needs of the people of Abia State and
as such I recommend him as the best man to do the job of restoring
our people.”
While
calling on all well-meaning people of the state to back their support
for Dr. Otti’s race for the Government House, she said, “we need
to work together and give him our support so that we can get him to
offer his service to our people.”
Okoli
called on Otti, who she referred to as the next governor of the state
to turn Aba to an industrial hub for manufacturing, particularly
thanking him for offering to serve his people as well as for the
sacrifice that he has made so far for the entire people.
Chairman
of Seplat Petroleum, Plc., Dr. ABC Orjiako described Otti as the
solution to the problem of the Abia noting that what the state lack
presently is man that will bring good governance to the people of
Abia pin-pointing Dr. Otti as the right man.
He
however expressed worry that time is running out for the Alex Otti
2019 Campaign team in their quest to retrieve Abia from the wrong
hands noting that very few are yet to join the fight for the
restoration of good governance in their Abia state.
He
said that the victory of Dr. Otti was stolen in 2015 because a lot
people were not on ground to monitor the counting of votes stressing
that once Otti is elected his good governance in the state will
affect the whole South East.
Orjiako
said that although Aba was well planned as a city but is now a refuse
dump urging Otti not to despair in his fight to restore the glory of
Aba expressing confidence that he can turn the state around.
Similarly,
in his remark, the former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian
Communications Commission, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe praised Dr, Otti for
his outstanding quality, which made him suitable for the job of
bringing good governance to the people of Abia stressing that he
appreciates the decision of Dr. Otti to re-run for the next year
governorship election in Abia State.
Describing
his lost at the polls for the Anambra South Senatorial election of
2015 as an unpleasant experience because of the way his mandate was
stolen like that of Dr. Otti, he said that many true patriot of Abia
were not on ground to support him, Dr. Otti suggesting that for Otti
to win the 2019 governorship election, the right people must be on
ground to watch the votes as they are cast and counted.
Ndukwe
who is also the founder of OpenMedia Limited said that people must be
put in strategic position to protect the results of the polls stating
that the people of Abia are tired of bad leadership.
“He
has the means to change the life of the people of Abia, he knows what
the people wants and has the capacity to respond to help the people”,
Ndukwe said advising that politics must be played the way it should
be.
In
solidarity with the professionals, businessmen and technocrats,
former Managing Director of Shell Nigerian Limited, and the Chairman
of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc., Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu promised to help and
encourage Dr. Otti to become the next governor of his state and
replicate what he has done in the business and corporate world in
Abia.
Sunmonu
who is also friend to intending governor said that without good
governance which only Otti can deliver in Abia State, the
investment made by parents on children cannot be achieved without
good governance saying that if Otti gets elected, his changes will
affect other parts of the South East.
While
acknowledging the show of support from the professionals, the man on
saddle, Dr. Otti promised to use the influence of his friend Sunmonu
to bring Juluis Berger to Abia and build bridges that will give Aba a
face-lift noting that what Abia needs is a total transformation due
to height of social and economic decay in the state.
According
to him, you cannot build on dilapidated structures because major
roads in the state including the Port-Harcourt/Aba roads are in a sad
state promising good governance, which has eluded the people for
years.
He
said that he is not looking for money since he had a good and
comfortable job before joining politics stressing that that was why
he rejected the offer from the opposition party when they approached
him to sell his mandate to them after the election he won.
Otti
said that leadership in Abia State has be given to people who don’t
mean well for the state stressing that he is coming with a new
perception to change things in Abia, and that the era of godfatherism
is gone in the state.
He
called on all those who love the state to join hands with him to take
over the state from the hands of those whose main concern is the
hand-out they get every month from the government without working.
The
development had been predicted to hurt the ruling party’s chances
of retaining power in 2019 general elections.
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