Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has distanced himself from claims by his Imo State counterpart, Hope Uzodimma, that all five South-East governors had agreed to support President Bola Tinubu’s re-election in 2027.
Otti said Uzodimma was entitled to his personal view but could not speak on behalf of every governor in the region, stressing that the choice of who leads the country in 2027 rests with voters.
He spoke on Thursday during his monthly media chat while responding to a question about Uzodimma’s recent remark that the region’s governors had resolved to back Tinubu for a second term.
“If he said that, it is his right to say it as a governor and as an individual, but he can’t speak for everybody. I’m sure that at the appropriate time, people will take their decision,” Otti said.
The governor noted that as a member of the Labour Party, his party would field its own candidates. “My party is Labour Party. And Labour Party has its own presidential and vice-presidential candidate. To the extent that we have candidates, we support them,” he said.
Otti clarified that he was not opposed to Tinubu contesting again. “Am I against the President running for a second term? Absolutely no. He has a right to run for a second term, and others who also want to run have a right to run,” he said, adding that “at the end of the day, it’s the ballot box… that will determine what happens.”
He also renewed his backing for some federal economic policies, including the removal of petrol subsidy, arguing that “subsidising consumption is not the way to go” and that the practice fuels corruption.
Uzodimma, who chairs the South-East Governors’ Forum, had cited federal projects such as roads, rail and the South East Development Commission as reasons for the reported endorsement. The region’s governors, however, span different parties: Uzodimma and Ebonyi’s Francis Nwifuru of the APC, Enugu’s Peter Mbah of the PDP, Otti of the Labour Party, and Anambra’s Chukwuma Soludo of the APGA.
Source: Punch.
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