Constitution Review: Gov Otti Stays True To His Conviction

By Kazie Uko

One of the most memorable and eventful experiences I’ve had as a media professional outside the newsroom was working with Dr. Alex Otti, the then gubernatorial aspirant and now Governor of Abia State, during his campaigns. I was introduced to Dr. Otti in 2018 by our mutual friend, the unforgettable Prince Emeka Obasi (may his soul rest in peace), a quintessential journalist and publisher of the Hallmark Newspaper, who passed away in 2022. My role was to help organise and strengthen Otti’s media presence.

Governor Otti, then the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), was making his second attempt for the gubernatorial office of Abia State. He had previously run for the same office in 2015 on the APGA platform and appeared to be heading towards victory when the election results were inexplicably altered to favour the candidate of the then-ruling party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Although Candidate Otti went to court to claim his victory and the Appeal Court declared him the winner, his hopes of becoming Governor in 2015 were ultimately dashed by the Supreme Court, which effectively closed the door on his ambition in a highly controversial decision.

I joined the Alex Otti Campaign Organisation in 2018 as the Director of Media and Publicity. It was my first foray into local politics. I was born and raised in Aba and spent my formative years in the Enyimba City, attending both primary and secondary schools before leaving for “greener pastures” in Lagos. So, I can confidently say that I am Nwa Aba! As the campaign gained momentum, it became clear that a new era of political communication had begun in Abia, despite initial jibes from the ruling PDP and its agents that Candidate Otti was importing outsiders from Lagos to take over the Abia government. The 2019 election came and went, and as usual, the PDP manipulated the results to maintain its stronghold on Abia. But Otti was not discouraged.

Like many who had been with Otti since 2014, when he resigned from his lucrative position as the Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank (now merged with Access Bank), I saw in him a genuine desire to bring about positive change in the lives of Abia residents and citizens. I, along with many others, remained committed to his vision and volunteered our services and support pro bono.

Therefore, in 2022, when we returned to Abia for the campaigns leading up to the jinx-breaking 2023 election, the campaign team grew larger as the stakes were higher. Adjustments were made to accommodate new members. In the interim, Candidate Otti had moved from APGA to the All Progressives Congress (APC) and ultimately settled in the Labour Party (LP). Otti’s entry into the Labour Party and subsequent nomination as the party’s gubernatorial candidate immediately brought the party into the spotlight in Abia, positioning it as the primary opposition to the incumbent PDP. I was again appointed to the media team, this time as the Head of Media, working directly with Dr. Otti. Unlike in 2018-2019, when I worked from the campaign office, I was now embedded in Candidate Otti’s convoy.

The 2022-2023 campaign was more intense for several reasons. First, it was Dr. Otti’s third attempt at the office of Governor of Abia State. Second, the maladministration in Abia under the PDP had reached an embarrassing and appalling level, with Nigerians making a mockery of the state and questioning whether anything good could ever come out of Abia. Third, we were confronting a political behemoth whose only winning strategy was perfecting the fraudulent art of rigging elections, often relying on results from a single local government area.

During the 2023 governorship campaign in Abia, we travelled the length and breadth of the state, meeting with political, religious, traditional, business, and various other stakeholders and groups across party lines in every corner of Abia. It was a memorable experience for me, and I remain grateful to Governor Otti. I gained a deep understanding of Abia, its rich natural resources, and the decay that the state had been allowed to fall into by its past leaders, especially in the 24 years preceding the election. Aba, the commercial hub of Abia, was a mere shadow of its former self from the days of old Imo State, when Dee Sam Mbakwe was the Governor. The same held true for Umuahia, the capital of Abia, which remained a glorified village, even after 30 years as a state capital.

It seemed as though past leaders in Abia State, especially during the PDP years, were only concerned with sharing political offices and appropriating the state’s resources for themselves and their cronies. No deliberate efforts were made to improve upon the infrastructure left by Mbakwe or to build new ones. I recall one of our campaign stops in a community in Abia South, where Candidate Otti met with the elders and leaders of the land. During the meeting, the community leaders sought a commitment from the Labour Party candidate that one of their own would be appointed Commissioner for Finance when he (Otti) took office. They reasoned that since Otti was from Abia Central and his deputy from Abia North, it was only logical that the next Commissioner for Finance or Secretary to the State Government would come from their zone, Abia South, specifically from their community.

The community leaders were taken aback when Otti, the aspiring governor, told them point-blank that he would not make such a promise. He explained that political appointments under his government would be based on merit and given to deserving individuals, not to communities or groups. Candidate Otti also reminded his hosts that some of their sons and daughters had previously been appointed to various offices in the State and Federal Government, and he questioned how that had impacted the infrastructural development of their community. That was Governor Otti staying true to his convictions, even at the risk of losing votes. However, he promised that if elected, he would work to bring genuine development to the community and the state as a whole. Abians, including his political opponents, have since acknowledged that Governor Otti has lived up to his promise to develop the State.

Therefore, when I saw the vitriol spewed by the former Executive Secretary of the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), Mr. Paul Ikonne, a member of the old order in Abia politics, who used the public hearing of the Constitution Review Committee of the National Assembly in Owerri, Imo State, to malign Governor Otti for allegedly not calling for the creation of “Aba State” out of the present Abia State, I knew immediately that his outburst was misplaced and rooted in deep-seated animosity. It is not Otti’s fault that Ikonne and the groups he represents had the opportunity to present their case before the review committee in Owerri but failed to do so effectively. Many other groups attended the committee hearing and were allowed to present papers on aspects of the 1999 Constitution they felt strongly about changing or reviewing.

Many who know Otti and have followed his writings and public speeches before he became Governor are aware that he has consistently maintained that the creation of additional states from the present 36-state structure would not contribute to the economic development of our country. His position is based on the fact that, except for perhaps three, the majority of states are not economically viable and cannot survive without federal bailouts. Instead, he has often argued, as he did in Owerri, that Nigeria should focus on improving the economic structure of the existing 36 states, redoubling efforts to create jobs for its young population outside the civil service, and prioritising the welfare of ordinary Nigerians.

However, he made an exception for the creation of another state for the South East zone of the country, solely for political reasons. Of the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria, only the South East has five states, while the others – South South, South West, North East, and North Central – have six, and the North West zone has seven states. Therefore, to correct this injustice and marginalisation of the South East people, Governor Otti clarified that an exception should be made for the creation of an additional state in the zone to provide the region with a sense of equity with the rest of the country. It is worth noting that many across the federation have welcomed and echoed Governor Otti’s position.

Governor Otti is never afraid to call a spade a spade or to stand by his convictions, regardless of how politically incorrect he might be perceived. As a first-class economist, a successful bank chief executive officer, a resilient political opposition figure, and now the Governor of Abia State, Otti has rightfully earned his recognition, and Nigerians, indeed the international community, listen and pay attention when he speaks. It is, therefore, inappropriate for someone who rose to public office through nepotism to attempt to stir up dubious public sentiment against a Governor who has worked tirelessly to improve the fortunes of Abia State and whose record of achievements in two years is clearly visible, simply because he disagrees with his views.

●Uko, former Chief Press Secretary to Governor Alex Otti, writes from Umuahia.