The former Commissioner for Information in Abia State, Eze Chikamnayo, has criticized Governor Alex Otti for appointing Ide Udeagbala, a wealthy individual from Anambra State, as the Mayor of Aba City.
Chikamnayo cautioned in a statement released on Monday that Otti’s insistence on appointing or prioritizing non-indigenous individuals over natives could lead to unrest in the state.
Governor Otti, in a viral video, announced Udeagbala’s appointment as Mayor of Aba City on Saturday, asserting that the era of favoring indigenes over non-indigenes has come to an end in the state. He emphasized that merit would be the primary determinant for positions in his administration.
The newly appointed mayor, originally from Ozubulu in Anambra State, is a Harvard University graduate.
In response to this development, Chikamnayo called upon President Bola Tinubu and security agencies to intervene and restrain Otti to prevent the state from descending into crisis due to his statements.
Chikamnayo’s statement, titled ‘Stop Alex Otti Before He Sets Abia on Fire,’ emphasized that Aba comprises two closely connected communities known as ‘Aba Na Ohazu,’ underscoring that the city is not an unclaimed territory.
The statement reads in part, “Non-indigenes from other parts of Abia State and or Igbo lands like old Bende, Anambra, Enugu, Imo State or Ebonyi, regardless of their wealth or status should never allow themselves to be deceived by Mr Alex Otti to assume that they can mutate into the owners of Aba. By recklessly declaring that Aba is a no man’s land, Otti is inadvertently setting Abia on fire and instigating avoidable unrest in that peaceful city.
“For reasons best known to him, he is ostensibly trying to stoke this fire of indigene and non-indigene dichotomy to further insult the Ngwa Nation and polarize the polity. Since assumption of office, the governor’s penchant for playing to the gallery is legendary. If he truly wants to patronize his fellow big men like Bourdex, Udeagbara and others, he must not reduce them to canon fodders thereby setting them up against the people.”
“Can Mr Alex Otti go to Umuahia and tell Ibeku and Ohuhu people that Umuahia North is a no man’s land? Can he go to Owerri, Onitsha, Port Harcourt or Warri and make such an inflammatory, nonsensical statement.”
