Abia Governor Alex Otti has made a bold succession pledge, saying he will not impose a successor or become a political godfather after 2031, while urging younger and better-trained people to take up leadership roles.
Abia State Governor Alex Otti has said he will neither impose a successor on the state nor become a political godfather after completing his second tenure in 2031.
Otti made the declaration on Thursday in Umuahia while receiving former Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate, Ngozi Johnson-Chukwunenye, and her supporters into the Labour Party (LP).
The governor said leadership succession should be based on identifying the most suitable candidate rather than perpetuating what he described as a “sit-tight” political culture.
Otti said he expected his successor to be better equipped to provide quality leadership to the people of Abia.
“The most important thing you can give a people is good governance.
“And once people test good governance, it will be very difficult for them to allow you to take them back.
“So, if you are afraid that we will go back to Egypt, it will never happen and what I can assure you is that, by the time I’m done, the person who will succeed me will be better than me.
“I don’t want to be a godfather and I don’t tolerate godfathers.
“We will all sit down, look at everybody and say, who is the best person for this job and then all of us will agree and we will campaign for him.
“He will win and we will take a back seat,” Otti said.
The governor also reiterated that he would not seek another elective position after completing his second tenure, saying he wanted younger people to have opportunities to assume leadership responsibilities.
“We should stop this sit-tight. It’s only you. It can’t be only you.
“There are smarter, more trained, better-trained, better-equipped younger people; our children. We need to give them opportunity,” he said.
Otti said his administration was already preparing younger people for future leadership through initiatives including the Abia Leadership Academy.
He disclosed that more than 1,080 young people between the ages of 16 and 25 had recently graduated from the academy.
“You will see how smart our children are. So, these are the people that will take over from us.
“And they are being trained now for tomorrow; so we can never go back,” he said.
The governor said his administration would continue its governance and infrastructure programmes despite criticism, stressing that development could not be achieved overnight.
He said the government initially focused on restoring Aba and Umuahia before extending its interventions to other parts of the state.
“We are now moving into the hinterlands, and we will continue until we reach everywhere; so nothing will stop us,” he said.
Otti also thanked Johnson-Chukwunenye for joining the Labour Party and commended her for supporting vulnerable members of society, including pupils of the School for the Blind.
The Labour Party National Vice-Chairman, Southeast, Ishmael Onuoha, said the party’s motto aligned with the ideals expressed in the third stanza of the national anthem.
Onuoha described the Labour Party as committed to the masses and hope for Nigerians.
The LP Chairman in Abia, Peter Azubuike, said the growing support for the party reflected what he described as Otti’s performance in government.
Azubuike said the party was preparing for the 2027 elections and urged members to focus on polling-unit-based campaigns and grassroots mobilisation.
In her remarks, Johnson-Chukwunenye said she had closely followed the Otti administration and was convinced by its efforts to clean up, light up and restore dignity to Abia.
She said she decided to support Otti’s second-term bid because she believed his administration’s policies aligned with her vision of a government that remembers the poor and promotes equity.
She also called for legislation on “continuity and completion” to ensure that successive administrations continued projects inherited from previous governments.
Otti’s remarks on succession come as the governor continues preparations for a second term, while ruling out a further elective political career after 2031. Multiple reports of his Umuahia remarks on September 17 corroborate his position that he does not intend to impose a successor or assume the role of a political godfather.
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