By Tofarati Ige
All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has said that he is the change the state needs.
“I wouldn’t have been contesting, but the situation calls for it. I’m convinced that change needs to happen, and I think I should be the change agent,” the former managing director of Diamond Bank declared at a media parley in Lagos on Thursday, March 12.
He continued, “Of course, there were a lot of options on the table. One that was favoured by a lot of my supporters was that we should back someone else and ensure that we make that change, but my fear still remains that of godfatherism. Somehow, for some curious reasons, godfathers behave alike, and I don’t want to be one.
“Even at the risk of sounding immodest, contesting this election is a sacrifice for me because I was in my comfort zone and I didn’t have any problems. The job I was doing as the CEO of the bank was doing excellently well. The bank became the fastest-growing bank in West Africa, but like I said, sometimes, you have to contribute your own quota.”
On his plans for the state, Otti promised to build three model hospitals upon assumption of office, while decrying the high infant mortality rate and poor state of the state’s health sector.
He also pledged to fix the state and make it the most competitive in the country so that industries can thrive and the people can enjoy the dividends of democracy.
This is even as he mentioned that he will discontinue some of the present administration’s gargantuan projects such as the construction of the state house.
Reacting to the insinuations in some quarters that he is a violent man, Otti explained that he is a man that abhors violence, but that he has often been at the receiving end of incumbent Governor Theodore Orji’s and his aides’ acts of violence. He stated that on many occasions, thugs have disrupted his campaign in some locations and chased his supporters away.
Also complaining of intimidation by Orji, Otti stated that his campaign materials were often not aired on the state’s broadcasting networks even after paying the required fee.
He also alleged that the governor was sewing fake army and police uniforms right inside Government House.
Sharing his experience in the political terrain so far, Otti noted that the sector is fraught with so much lies.
In his words, “It’s not as if I wasn’t aware that people tell lies, but I’m used to intelligent lies. Meanwhile, politicians just lie anyhow they choose to even if the truth is glaring. This is also the only business I know that someone will be cheating you to your knowledge, and you’ll still have to continue giving such person money.”
Otti also refuted claims that he is a godson to former Abia Governor, Orji Uzor Kalu.
He argues that “If you want to pick a godson, will you go for the former CEO of a bank? Besides he also has his own party and the candidate he’s supporting.”
In his final remarks, Otti boasted that the entire people of the state were behind him and that was why Governor Orji is running scared.
