Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has voiced his disdain for political godfathers, saying he has no intention of becoming one after his tenure as governor in 2031.
At the formal reception organised for the 2023 governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in Abia State, Dr Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Chukwunenye, and the Labour Party (LP) in Umuahia, Otti said 2031 would also mark the end of his political journey, having sought the governorship office specifically to address the fundamental issue of mismanagement of the State.
The Governor said his concern at the moment is the legacy of good governance he intends to bequeath to the people and not the pursuit of a higher political office like the Senate, and announced that his successor would be better than himself as he/she would emerge as the popular choice.
“So, what I can assure you is that by the time I’m done, the person that will succeed me will be better than me. Once I finish this one, I will retire. I want the young people to take over. We should stop this sit-tight system.
“I don’t want to be a godfather. We will all sit down, look at everybody, and say who is the best person for this job. And then all of us would agree, and we will campaign for him.
“This is just about 39 months. Everything cannot be done in one day, particularly in a place that has been badly managed in the last 24 years. It takes a lot of time, resources and planning,” Otti said as he exulted in restoring Aba and Umuahia and moving to the hinterland with development.
Earlier, Dr Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Chukwunenye said her decision to join the Labour Party is to support Governor Otti’s administration after closely following developments in the State and observing what she described as positive changes under the present administration.
She cited the payment of salary arrears, regular payment of workers’ salaries, attention to pensioners and the rehabilitation of roads in Umuahia and Aba as among the developments that influenced her decision.
“I saw a State that was once the dustbin of unpaid salaries: 29 months of arrears, now paying salaries on the 28th of every month. I saw pensioners who were left to die, now smiling again because Abia remembers them,” she said.
