From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former Managing Director of defunct Diamond Bank, Dr Alex Otti, has picked the expression of interest and nomination forms of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest the 2023 Abia State governorship election.
Speaking to newsmen after purchasing the nomination forms, the APC chieftain claimed that he is on a rescue mission to take the state out of the woods.
He maintained that Abia needs a capable hand with the requisite skills, training and competence to save it from complete collapse, announcing that his entry into the race signals quit notice to the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state after destroying the state.
Otti specifically alleged that the State has been plunged into huge debts, stressing that the civil servants, pensioners among others were hugely owed by the state government.
While issuing the PDP government quit notice, Otti claimed that the present government, by its poor performance, had signed off on the departure call.
His words: “If you have been following my politics, you will understand that this is not the first time that I am coming out to run. I ran in 2015 and I won the election under the platform of APGA but unfortunately, it was stolen, recovered at the court of appeal but the Supreme Court reversed the victory. In 2019, I tried again. That didn’t go well and if the state of Abia is understood, if you know what is happening in Abia, if you the state of the State, the level of infrastructural decay, the level of debts and the amount of money being owed to contractors and civil servants and pensioners, then you will realize that Abia needs a serious rescue and that why I am here.
“I am happy that a lot of people are showing interest. I found that out that 2 or 3 more people have picked their forms and I believe that it’s going to be an interesting race and at the end of the day, I know that Abians like they have always done will make the right choice.
“PDP knows that they are on their way out and they also in the recesses of their heart and then they look at what they have done to the state in the last 24 years, I am sure, they would have given themselves a quit notice. In fact, this last administration had signed off on that quit notice because they actually didn’t do anything. In fact, all they did was to destroy the state.
“I don’t have any fears but of course, when you go into a race, it’s either you will or you lose. But when you have great chance of winning, then you shouldn’t entertain fears. You don’t start with fears. You can and do what you have to do and if you don’t get it, you have to wait and try again. But I am sure I will get it,” he said.
Asked of his chances in the race, Otti replied: “Great, very bright chances. If you are from Abia, you will know that I have bright chances because Abia people want people that have capacity. The level of decay in Abia requires a whole lot of work and it’s only people that have skills, capacity, training, and competence that can do it. There are states that are on autopilot right now. So, anybody can go and continue on what has been built. But in Abia, nothing has been built. If anything, it has been destruction. So, it’s a lot of work”.
On the mode of primaries he would prefer, he said that he would like his party to adopt either direct or indirect methods to choose their candidates even as he noted that it would be entirely the party’s decision, calling for unity in Abia APC to enable it to win elections.
“Well, I am not sure it is about what I prefer. It is about what the party wants to do but there are three modes that have been approved as per the electoral act. One is consensus, and that presupposes that other aspirants will step down and give up their rights. The other one is direct and the final one is indirect. So, they are all modes of primaries. I believe that it should either be direct or Indirect.
“We are on it. It’s a political party and you know political parties deal with different interests. What we have seen is that some interests in the last few months wanted to balkanize the party but at the end of the day, I am sure we will come together. There are serious efforts being made. Meetings are being held and we believe that if we don’t come together our chances of winning will be very, very dim,” he said.