Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has dismissed rumours of possible defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, or the emerging coalition ending speculations that he might be among the next batch of governors to join the ruling party or the new coalition.
There has been speculations and reports from some quarters insinuating that the Governor was planning to join the APC or the coalition currently being formed by some opposition elements in the country, but Otti was categorical that he is still a member of the Labour Party, which crisis had been resolved by the Supreme Court.
Clarifying the issue during the welcome dinner organized by the Abia State Government for the Abia State Global Economic Advisory Council, ushering in the beginning of the 2025 mid-year retreat for the appointees of the Government, the Governor said, “I will just spend a few minutes talking about what some members of the Global Economic Council have been asking me. One of them is the report about five Governors decamping to APC… I’m still a member of the Labour Party and I’m not looking for where to decamp to.
“The second point is about coalition, and a lot of people have been asking me, are you a member of the coalition? And, my response is, have you seen my name? Have you seen me attending the coalition meeting?
“We are just busy doing the work that Abia people have given us. So, we are not attending any coalition meeting, I have not attended any one and nobody has invited me.
“I am happy where I am. Yes, we had issues, if you don’t have issues, you are dead… So, you wake up and there is one problem or the other, you solve the problem. You don’t run away from a problem and pretend to have solved it.
“When we had our problems, we fought all the way to the Supreme Court and retrieved our party at the Supreme Court. I believe that a few issues that remain would be resolved very soon because the Supreme Court Judgment was very, very clear.”
Dr. Otti also used the occasion to explain his administration’s stance on borrowing, insisting he was yet to borrow but would borrow only when it is absolutely necessary for investments and not for consumption.
He said claims by the opposition that he was borrowing to run the State was false as he referred them to the recently published Debt profile report by the Debt Management Office (DMO), a Federal Agency, that put Abia first among the States that reduced their debts between March 2024 and March 2025.
Otti explained within the period under review, Abia reduced its public debt by 57.20%, the highest reduction across the country.
The Governor said stomach infrastructure has no place in his administration but a firm resolve to do things right, knowing that Abians are not people who believe in handouts but people who just need the enabling environment, like good roads, clean environment, to thrive in their businesses and daily endeavours.
He reiterated his resolve to providing portable water, “We want to get to that level where you open your tap and you have public water running. In the next few weeks, we are going to flag off the water project in Aba around CKC. There is also another one in Umuahia and a lot of other places. We will get there.”
While thanking members of the Economic Advisory Council for their invaluable contributions, Otti revealed that he has set up a project implementation bureau to ensure proper implementation of government projects.
Earlier in her speech on behalf of the Council, the Co-Chair of the Abia Global Economic Advisory Council, Prof. Arunma Oteh, said it was an absolute pleasure to serve in the Economic Advisory Council and to be part of what has been achieved in Abia in the past two years. She further stated that Abia is now truly the number one, not just in alphabet but also in performance.
In his remarks, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Kenneth Kalu thanked the members of the Council for their sacrifices to help the administration succeed. He explained that the good thing about what the Council is doing is that the results are showing and Abians are very happy.
