A group of Abia professionals, South East businessmen and technocrats have thrown their weight behind Dr Alex Otti following his declaration last week to re-run for the Governorship election in the state come 2019.

Dr Otti, a former Group Managing Director of Diamond Bank, Plc., and the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), in Abia State in 2015, has oiled his political machines to sack the incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu in 2019.

The gathering of the group is just one of the arsenals in the armouring of Otti’s growing numbers of supporters, some of whom are decampees of the incumbent governor.

Speaking at a business meeting in Lagos, tagged “TimeOut with Alex”, where the banker-turned politician was hosted, the group vowed to use their means and power to force the incumbent out of Government House, Umuahia, and collect the mandate that was stolen from Dr Otti in 2015.

They described the present state of Aba, the enviable commercial cum industry hub of the South-East region of Nigeria as decaying city that needs urgent restoration picking Dr Otti as the man that is fit for the job of restoring the lost glory of Aba for the benefit Abians.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Emzor Pharmaceuticals Limited, Dr Stella Okoli, God has appointed Dr Otti as the Messiah to restore the glory of Abia for the benefit of the people of the South East.

She said: “I believe that Dr Otti is intelligent and a well-read man with great understanding of the needs of the people of Abia State and as such I recommend him as the best man to do the job of restoring our people.”

While calling on all well-meaning people of the state to back their support for Dr Otti’s race for the Government House, she said: “We need to work together and give him our support so that we can get him to offer his service to our people.”

Okoli called on Otti, who she referred to as the next governor of the state to turn Aba to an industrial hub for manufacturing, particularly thanking him for offering to serve his people as well as for the sacrifice that he has made so far for the entire people.

Chairman of Seplat Petroleum, Plc., Dr. ABC Orjiako, described Otti as the solution to the problem of the Abia noting that what the state lack presently is man that will bring good governance to the people of Abia, pin-pointing Dr Otti as the right man.

He, however, expressed worry that time is running out for the Alex Otti 2019 Campaign team in their quest to retrieve Abia from the wrong hands noting that very few are yet to join the fight for the restoration of good governance in their Abia state.

He said that the victory of Dr Otti was stolen in 2015, because a lot of people were not on ground to monitor the counting of votes stressing that once Otti is elected his good governance in the state will affect the whole South East.

Orjiako said that although Aba was well planned as a city but is now a refuse dump urging Otti not to despair in his fight to restore the glory of Aba expressing confidence that he can turn the state around.

Similarly, in his remark, the former Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission, Engr. Ernest Ndukwe, praised Dr, Otti for his outstanding quality, which made him suitable for the job of bringing good governance to the people of Abia stressing that he appreciates the decision of Dr. Otti to re-run for the next year governorship election in Abia State.

Describing his lost at the polls for the Anambra South senatorial election of 2015 as an unpleasant experience because of the way his mandate was stolen like that of Dr. Otti, he said that many true patriots of Abia were not on ground to support him, Dr. Otti suggesting that for Otti to win the 2019 governorship election, the right people must be on ground to watch the votes as they are cast and counted.

Ndukwe, who is also the founder of OpenMedia Limited, said that people must be put in strategic position to protect the results of the polls stating that the people of Abia are tired of bad leadership.

“He has the means to change the life of the people of Abia, he knows what the people want and has the capacity to respond to help the people,” Ndukwe said, advising that politics must be played the way it should be.

In solidarity with the professionals, businessmen and technocrats, former Managing Director of Shell Nigerian Limited, and the Chairman of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc., Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu, promised to help and encourage Dr. Otti to become the next governor of his state and replicate what he has done in the business and corporate world in Abia.

Sunmonu, who is also a friend to the intending governor said that without good governance which only Otti can deliver in Abia State, the investment made by parents on children cannot be achieved without good governance saying that if Otti gets elected, his changes will affect other parts of the South East.

While acknowledging the show of support from the professionals, the man on saddle, Dr. Otti promised to use the influence of his friend Sunmonu to bring Julius Berger to Abia and build bridges that will give Aba a face-lift noting that what Abia needs is a total transformation due to height of social and economic decay in the state.

According to him, you cannot build on dilapidated structures because major roads in the state including the Port Harcourt/Aba roads, are in a sad state, promising good governance, which has eluded the people for years.

He said that he is not looking for money since he had a good and comfortable job before joining politics stressing that that was why he rejected the offer from the opposition party when they approached him to sell his mandate to them after the election he won.

Otti said that leadership in Abia State has been given to people who don’t mean well for the state, stressing that he is coming with a new perception to change things in Abia, and the era of godfatherism is gone in the state.

He called on all those who love the state to join hands with him to take over the state from the hands of those whose main concern is the hand-out they get every month from the government without working.

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