Ex-Banker Alex Otti Revives Political Ambition

Ex-Banker Alex Otti Revives Political Ambition

For a long time, Alex Otti’s name was synonymous with banking. He did so well as a banker that he rose to the enviable position of managing director of the rested Diamond Bank Plc.

But to the chagrin of his fans, he resigned from his plumb job as the MD of the bank to venture into politics. His resignation had been greeted with mixed feelings

In particular, the fears in some quarters were that the Abia State-born gentleman is too polished for the murky waters of Nigerian politics. But he seemed to have thought it out, and was resolved to contest for governor of Abia State in 2015 on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.

He couldn’t have been happier when he emerged the governorship candidate of his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

To realise his ambition, he toured every nook and cranny of the state to campaign. As fate would have it, he was able to worm himself into the hearts of his people in the state. He was defeated in the 2015 governorship election.

No doubt, he suffered what many described as baptism of fire at the polls when he was forced to bow for the Peoples’ Democratic Party’s candidate, Dr. Ikpeazu. He subsequently approached an election tribunal to seek redress.

Luckily, he got some reprieve at the tribunal. But sadly, it was later overturned by the Supreme Court.

Since his loss at the apex court, many had foreclosed the possibility of him staging a comeback to the political arena. But emerging development seems to suggest that the former banker has revamped his political ambition ahead of 2023. He is reportedly warming up to throw his hat into the ring again for the number one job of the state, possibly under a different political party.

Otti attended the University of Port Harcourt and graduated with first class in Economics in 1988.

While at the university, he distinguished himself by graduating not only as the best student of the Faculty of Social Sciences, but also as the ‘Overall Best Graduating Student’ for that year. He not only excelled academically but also proved his mettle by taking on various roles such as the position of the news editor for the school newsletter, UniPort Mirror.

In addition, he was the treasurer for the University Chapter of the Nigerian Economic Students’ Association (NESA) in 1986 and subsequently became the president of the association the following year.

An alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School, Otti has attended various international courses, including the Executive Development Programmes of the Columbia Business and Stanford Business School and Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania).

Highly respected for his wealth of knowledge, Otti is on the board of several companies and is also on the Board of two of Nigeria’s leading universities.

In 2009, he was conferred with an honorary doctorate by Babcock University; and in 2012, he was awarded a doctoral degree by the UniPort.

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