Otti: Those Planning to Rig Abia 2027 Election Should Sign Their Will

•          Group accuses deputy speaker of inciting presidency against governor

•          guber election should sign their will

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has warned that rigging the 2027 governorship election in the state will spell self-destruction for anyone who engages in such malpractice.

The warning comes as the Abians for Sustenance of Good Governance, a group of Abians advocating for deepening of good governance in their state, urged the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, to stop inciting President Bola Tinubu against Otti.

The group made the call at a press conference in Umuahia, saying that a series of statements coming from Kalu in recent time were disconcerting.

The Abia Governor sent out the warning Thursday, night at the October edition of his monthly media chat at Government House, Umuahia, while reacting to the frequent attacks by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Kalu.

Otti, who was publicly reacting to Kalu’s attacks and boasts, stated that he was aware that the Deputy Speaker and some people around him had vowed that “they must take over this state; they must write results.”

“But the only advice I have for them is that if they truly want to write results, they should write something else before that time. You know what it is?: They will,” Otti bluntly said.

Kalu, who represents Bende federal constituency in the National Assembly, recently flayed Otti for hiding the contribution of the President Bola Tinubu’s government to the rising revenue profile of Abia.

The Deputy Speaker also insisted that Otti’s performance so far was not commensurate with the huge amount of money that has been flowing into the coffers of Abia from the federal government.

He had, at a gathering of his supporters in Umuahia on October 5, 2025, vowed that Otti would be flushed out of office in 2027 at the poll by the All Progressives Congress(APC).

Kalu had stated that, “our takeover of Abia will not be by force as some speculate. It will be through the will of the people, expressed at the ballot box.”

But the Abia Governor insinuated that Kalu’s attacks and boastful intention of wresting power from him could only be realised by the opposition through rigging, hence the warning that such practice would be a deadly venture.

However, he said that he was not feeling threatened by the Deputy Speaker’s outbursts, adding that Kalu was “terrified about the organic show of love” that Abians have been showing to the current Abia government.

Though Otti said he has a cordial relationship with Kalu, describing him as “my younger brother”, he nonetheless frowned at the Deputy Speaker’ exuberance and unguarded statement.

He said he has forgiven the Deputy Speaker but pitied him for suffering from “information deficiency syndrome” hence his utterances were “hubris”.

The Abia Governor pointed out that talking about what would happen in the 2027 election was akin to playing God, and confessed that he personally “do not have the anointing to talk about what would happen in 2027.”

He said, “I have a mandate that will expire in 2027. But if somebody has the power to predict what would happen in 2027, who am I to question him.”

Meanwhile, the leader of the ASGG, Hon. Dannie Ubani, said at the press conference that the statements credited to Kalu were temperamental and unstatesmanly outbursts.”

“A situation where supposed statesmen could deliberately fan the embers of conflicts between the state government and the presidency in furtherance of their selfish political ambitions at the expense of peace and stability, should be condemned, and is hereby condemned.

“Inciting a non-existent war of attrition between the governor of the state and our very dear President with the vain aim of leveraging on it to further selfish political ambitions is very unpatriotic, and would be stoutly resisted by Ndi Abia,” he asserted.

According to him, the Deputy Speaker was portraying the Otti administration as profligate in managing the state resources thereby inciting Abia people against their government.

He said that the allegations in reference “are heinous” irrespective of who is the accuser and the person making the allegations hence such utterances “demand the interrogation of all well informed and patriotic Abians.”

He noted that the “imaginary figures” being trumpeted by Kalu “as a way of setting up the Governor against the Abia people is very cowardly and capable of igniting avoidable conflagration.”

Ubani appealed to all the political combatants in Abia to sheath their swords in order not to distract and derail the government from focusing on the ongoing transformation of Abia.

He stated that if Abia politicians were bent on playing politics now, it should not be at the expense of the peace and stability that define the Abia State of today.

While he admitted that no man is infallible, Ubani said that Otti being the chief servant of Abia “is not and cannot be beyond public scrutiny, and ASGG has subjected the allegations of financial impropriety to a crucible test of objectivity.”

The ASGG leader praised for outstanding performance in the state so far, adding that the allegations of financial mismanagement could not be substantiated.

He said, “We have been able to interrogate the assertion that Abia appropriates an average of 38 billion naira every other 28 days.

“From the statistical data available by FAAC, the total accruals to Abia State in the last FAAC update is 98 billion, 120 million naira only, which is a monthly average of 14 billion naira as against the monthly 38 billion naira being touted by people who by virtue of their positions should know better.”

Ubani insisted that “a governor who has won back public confidence through the implementation of programmes and policies that have catalysed socio-economic growth can not be justifiably said to be liable to financial malfeasance as alleged.”

“Today, contrary to the rottenness and hopelessness of the past, all facets of Abia public life bears visible and undeniable multifaceted and unprecedented progress,” he added.

To further justify the position of his group, Ubani cited the liquidation of “Abia State debt burden from a  humongous sum of 138 billion naira as at 29th May 2023 to a manageable sum of 72 billion naira as at today,  that  is a significant reduction of 66 billion naira.”

He also stated that the “ongoing caterpillar revolution” has resulted in massive construction of roads across Abia, including even federal roads.