By Anya C. Anya
The Governorship Candidate of All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2015 and 2019 general Dr. Alex Otti has described People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State as a monster that has chosen to eat up those it was supposed to protect.
Dr. Alex Otti made this revelation known to AFNEWS In his welcome address presented during his official declaration for APC at his country home in Isialangwa South Local Government Area.
According to Dr. Otti, The Abia State People’s Democratic Party has nothing tangible to offer to Abians. In his exact words “Even before the 2019 election, majority of our supporters had implored us to leave APGA for APC. In like manner, many of the leaders in APC also invited us to join the party. However, we did not find it expedient before now. But after long consultations and considerations, we now believe that the time has come to join forces with the APC and henceforth fight on the same side for the emancipation of our State from the choke-hold of the PDP and its cohorts.”
” It is now clear to everyone that PDP is like a monster, which has its knees on the throats of Abians. We can’t breathe! It therefore behooves all genuine men and women of goodwill to join forces and free our dear state. Everyone must join in this struggle. As Franz Fanon said, every onlooker is either a coward or a traitor. “
“When I took the hard decision to walk out of the executive suites of the banking industry in 2014, giving up every banker’s dream job, I had no illusions that this road will be long, tortuous and treacherous. Along the way, the experiences have been trying and monumental. From the very beginning, our people, the great Abians have shown us immense love and support. From nowhere, we emerged as the party of choice in both the 2015 and 2019 gubernatorial elections. “
On how The People’s Democratic Party PDP allegedly stool his mandate in 2015 , Dr. Alex Oti said ” You all were witnesses to what happened. The fact that we didn’t form the government was not because we didn’t win the elections. Rather, the oppressors stole the people’s mandate. Sadly, all that the political robbers knew was how to steal votes and assume positions simply for their own selfish ends. They had no iota of idea about what they were supposed to do with the mandate they stole. All they could do was to indulge in despicable and licentious lifestyles, at the expense of the people they were meant to serve. “
” We Abians, have all paid the price in unpaid salaries and pensions, decayed infrastructure, insecurity, unemployment and endemic poverty. Our flagship city, Aba, is now a cesspit of decay, filth, pollution and misery. Our capital city, Umuahia, is like a village that has remained the same over twenty years. Look around you and tell me when last you saw a foreign investor who is genuinely seeking to invest in the state. Point to any infrastructure that one can say has been put up to improve the lives of the people. When our people fall sick, there is no decent hospital to attend to them. Those who are privileged steal out to other states to seek medical attention. Abia now occupies a very low position in the ranking of states in the Human Development Index.”
” I have therefore chosen to keep on fighting in order to liberate our people and make them achieve their full potential as human beings and rightful citizens of Nigeria and the world. As our people say, if you embark on a journey, you must keep walking until you get to your destination. We have not arrived yet, so we keep walking. We are a great people and we know it. It is our destiny. It is the great task of our lives. We must lead our people to the promised land.”
” We chose this mission, not for lack of what to do, or in response to any overriding ambition for power. Those who know me and my modest achievements, know that the good Lord has been extremely kind to me and I am very grateful for His Mercies. Therefore, I am in this struggle purely for the love of my people. I am in this struggle, to give back to my society. As the old saying goes, to whom much is given, much is expected. The Lord who blessed us with some talent, vision and ability, wants us to light up the torch and shine the light for the people to find the way. I am in this struggle so that it can never be said, that when Abia was in bondage I did nothing. As the Israelites in exile, who sat and wept by the rivers of Babylon, we the children of Abia state cannot continue to sing the Lord’s song in a foreign land! West, North or South; Abia is the only place we can all stand tall and call HOME!!! “
” Therefore my brothers and sisters, let the word go forth today, from this time and place, that I, Alex Otti, am prepared to keep fighting to salvage Abia from the grips of endless bad governance, and from inept and visionless leadership. I am rededicating my life and my struggle to end the tenure of the government of looters, by looters and for looters! Nigeria will be a much better nation, when Abia is repositioned to realise her enormous potential and contribute her quota to the development of our great nation. It could even be said that if Nigeria must make it, Abia must make it” he concluded.
