Ooni of Ife Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi has met with INEC’s returning officer for Abia State Prof. Nnenna Oti following her heroics at the March 18 governorship poll.
Oba Ogunwusi tweeted on Thursday that they met at the Imo airport, noting that Oti “epitomises the voice and intellectual reasoning that are embedded in an African woman.”
The monarch said the moment he spent listening ‘patiently’ to her was ‘invaluable’.
“Our brief meeting at the Imo airport provided a crucial opportunity for us to interact and discuss some salient issues of national importance. She spoke to me passionately and beautifully. You are, indeed, a beacon of truth and one of the voices of reason,” he wrote.
Oti was said to have refused to take bribes to influence the governorship election in Abia State. She has since become a national hero. On her return to the Federal University of Technology (FUTO), Owerri, where she is the vice-chancellor, the academic was given a hero’s welcome by students and staff.
Speaking further on her personality, Oba Ogunwusi said, “Professor Nnenna Oti exemplifies their world and our untapped richness. What a treasure Professor Nnenna is! She adorned democracy with patriotism in the recently concluded governorship election in Abia State, which produced Dr. Alex Otti of Labour Party.
“She demonstrates that there exists in each of us the capacity for great courage. Despite tremendous lobbying & financial inducement, she gave democracy a new meaning as the returning officer by standing for equity, fairness, & righteousness, & declared Dr. Alex Otti the winner.
“Her purity of heart will continue to be a healing thread for our country. I’d like our nation to join me in celebrating Prof. Mrs. Nnenna Oti.”
