Otti Says No to Godfather Role, Voters Will Choose His Successor

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has made it clear that he does not want to be a political godfather. He assured that after his second term ends in 2031, Abia voters will pick his successor.

Otti said this at the Labour Party State Secretariat in Umuahia on Thursday. He welcomed Dr Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Chukwunenye, the 2023 governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, into the Labour Party.

He stated, “What I can assure you is that by the time I am done, the person that will succeed me will be better than me. I don’t want to be a godfather.

“I don’t tolerate godfathers. Some of the people are making noise because they will tell you to do this, and I say I will not do it. Sometimes when I say no, they will go back and be digging for something.

“We will all sit down, look at everybody and say, who is the best person for this job? And then all of us would agree. And we will campaign for him. He will win. We will take a back seat.”

Otti continued, “I am not interested in any other thing. I don’t even want to go to Senate. I am not interested. Once I finish this one, I will retire. Why do I say so? I want the young people to take over.

“You will see young people between the ages of 16 and 25. You will see how smart our children are. So, these are the people that will take over from us. And they are being trained now for tomorrow. So, we can never go back.

“We should stop this sit-tight syndrome. There are smarter, more trained, better trained, better equipped younger people, our children. We need to give them opportunity. And that is what is important to us. It is not about money.”

On the criticism from the opposition, Otti said, “I can tell you without any fear of contradiction that we have literally restored those cities, Aba and Umuahia. And we are now moving into the hinterlands. And we will continue until we reach everywhere.

“Some dogs that are barking, we just ignore them. After barking, some of them will lose their voices. But then the ones we can cure, we will help to cure them.”

Otti also mentioned that Johnson-Chukwunenye had contested the 2023 governorship election under the SDP. He praised her for being courageous, especially as a woman seeking an elective position.

Earlier, Dr Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Chukwunenye explained that her choice to join the Labour Party was to support Otti's efforts. She has been following the developments in the state and noticed what she called “changes under the present administration.”

She highlighted the payment of salary arrears, regular payment of workers’ salaries, attention to pensioners, and the rehabilitation of roads in Umuahia and Aba as key factors that influenced her decision.