•Issues quit notice to PDP

•Picks APC governorship form

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

An Abia governorship aspirant in the 2023 general elections under the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr. Alex Otti has said that the State needed serious rescue.

He said that Abia needed a person with the requisite skills, training and competence to save it from a complete collapse.

Otti, a former managing director of the defunct Diamond Bank while speaking to Journalists in Abuja on Wednesday after obtaining the APC governorship nomination form said that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Abia has destroyed the State.

Specifically, Otti said that the State had been plunged into huge debts, stressing that civil servants, pensioners among others were hugely owed by the state government.
Issuing the PDP government a quit notice, Otti said that the present government by its poor performance had signed off on the departure call.

He said: “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 know 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’s why I am here.

“I am happy that a lot of people are showing interest. I found 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 can also re-acess 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 win or you lose. But when you have great chances of winning, then you shouldn’t entertain fears. You don’t start with fears. You can 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”.

When asked of his chances in the race, Otti responded “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.

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The level of decay in Abia requires a whole lot of work and it’s only people that have skills, capacity, training, 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’s has been destruction. So, it’s a lot of work”.

While there are three modes of primaries for political parties, Otti said he would like his party to adopt either direct or indirect primary mode of chosing their candidates even as he noted that it was entirely the party’s decision.

He also called for unity in Abia APC to enable it win election.
“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.