Reported by Ariajegbe Sylvia Esezobor
Abia State Governor Alex Otti has called on voters in the state to place the future of Abia above partisan politics, warning that allowing political considerations to override developmental priorities would reverse the progress recorded in the last three years and condemn the state to another cycle of underdevelopment. The governor made the call on Sunday, October 11, 2026, at a stakeholders' engagement in Umuahia, where he addressed traditional rulers, community leaders, youth groups, women's organisations and civil society representatives ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Otti said the 2027 governorship election in Abia would not be a contest between political parties but a referendum on the state's future, and he urged voters to assess candidates based on their records, competence and capacity to sustain the reforms his administration had initiated. "Politics should not be about personal ambition or party loyalty alone. It must be about the future of our children, the strength of our economy and the dignity of our people," the governor said. "We have started a journey to rebuild Abia. That journey is still ongoing. We cannot afford to reverse it by allowing politics to override the interests of our people."
The governor outlined what he described as verifiable achievements of his administration, including the reconstruction of over 200 kilometres of roads across the state's three senatorial districts, the renovation and equipping of more than 100 primary healthcare centres, the recruitment of over 9,000 teachers and healthcare workers, the payment of salary arrears inherited from previous administrations, and the clearing of pension and gratuity obligations that had remained unpaid for years. He said his administration had also invested in security infrastructure, including the establishment of a security trust fund and the procurement of vehicles and communication equipment for security agencies, and had strengthened the state's internally generated revenue framework to reduce dependence on federal allocations. "We are building institutions, not just projects. We are creating systems that will outlast this administration," he said.
Otti acknowledged that the reforms had imposed short-term pains on some residents, particularly the removal of petrol subsidy and the unification of the exchange rate, which had driven up the cost of transportation and food. He said his administration had responded with targeted interventions, including free transport schemes for students and workers, agricultural support programmes for farmers, and cash transfers for vulnerable households. He urged residents to see the reforms as necessary sacrifices for long-term stability and prosperity, and he warned against politicians who would exploit hardship to gain power without offering credible solutions. "We must be careful. Some people will come with bags of rice and promises they cannot keep. They will tell you what you want to hear. But the question you must ask is: what have they done before? What can they do? What is their record?" he said.
The governor also addressed the ongoing political realignments in the state, including the defection of some politicians to opposition parties and the emergence of new platforms seeking to challenge the Labour Party's dominance. He said defections were part of democratic politics and did not threaten his administration's focus on governance. "We are not distracted by political noise. Our eyes are on the ball. The work of rebuilding Abia is too important to be abandoned for politics," he said. He urged members of the Labour Party and other supporters to remain united and to resist attempts to divide them along ethnic, religious or sectional lines.
Reactions to the governor's remarks were mixed. The Chairman of the Abia State Council of Traditional Rulers, Eze Joseph Nwabekee, commended Otti for what he described as his respect for traditional institutions and his commitment to grassroots development. He said traditional rulers in the state would continue to support policies and programmes that improved the welfare of their communities. The President of the Abia State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Okoro Ogbonnaya, said the labour movement had noted the governor's interventions in workers' welfare, including the payment of the new minimum wage and the clearing of promotion arrears, but urged him to do more to address the rising cost of living. Civil society organisations in the state called for continued transparency in the management of public funds and urged the governor to publish details of his administration's spending on infrastructure and social programmes.
Opposition parties dismissed the governor's remarks as campaign rhetoric. The All Progressives Congress in Abia State said Otti's administration had not done enough to justify a second term, accusing it of failing to address unemployment, insecurity and infrastructural decay in rural areas. The Peoples Democratic Party said the governor's achievements were overstated and that the state's healthcare and education systems remained in crisis. The African Democratic Congress said voters would judge Otti by his record, not by his speeches. The governor's supporters countered that the opposition was seeking power without a credible agenda.
The political context of the engagement is significant. The 2027 general elections are less than four months away, with the presidential and National Assembly elections scheduled for January 16, and the governorship and state assembly elections for February 6. Governor Otti, elected in 2023 on the Labour Party platform, is expected to seek a second term, and his administration's record on infrastructure, education, healthcare and workers' welfare will be central to his campaign. The Labour Party's presidential candidate in 2023, Peter Obi, has since left the party for the Nigeria Democratic Congress, a development that has reshaped the political landscape in the South-East and introduced new dynamics into the 2027 contest. In Abia, the governorship race is expected to be competitive, with the APC, PDP, ADC and other parties fielding candidates.
For the people of Abia State, the coming months will determine whether the governor's call for politics to be subordinated to the state's future resonates at the polls. For Otti, the engagement was an opportunity to frame the election as a choice between continuity and reversal, and to present his administration as the only credible vehicle for sustaining the progress he says has been made. As he put it, the journey to rebuild Abia is still ongoing, and voters must decide whether to protect it or allow it to be reversed. "The future of Abia is in your hands. Do not sell it for a bag of rice or a temporary benefit. Think about your children, your grandchildren and the generations yet unborn," he said.
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