Obinna Oriaku and the wait to unseat Governor Otto in 2027
By Chinonyerem Cleverson
A few days ago, I came across a video clip in which a former Commissioner for Finance in Abia State, one Mr. Obinna Oriaku, addressed a gathering of individuals who had served under the administration of the immediate past Governor of Abia State, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, were he made many uncomplimentary remarks and false claims against the government of Dr. Alex Otti. He urged them to endure for another two years to regain the power they woefully lost in the 2023 gubernatorial election as they were roundly defeated by His Excellency Dr. Alex Otti OFR.
While Governor Otti has made it clear in different gatherings, (private and public), that he does not want to discuss the 2027 elections because it’s only God who knows what will happen and who will be alive in 2027, hence he would not want to play God; and
While Governor Otti has also forbidden his aides not to talk about 2027 but rather focus on delivering the dividends of democracy to Abians: as a citizen of Abia and a direct beneficiary of the myriads of the dividends of democracy made possible by Governor Otti’s people-centered governance, I have the right to respond to Mr. Oriaku.
I want Mr. Oriaku and his co-travelers and masterminds of Abia’s destroyed past that Governor Otti is rebuilding to take note of the following:
The parents of the over 700,000 school children who are enjoying free and compulsory education in an improved learning environment under the administration of Governor Otti would be the ones waiting for them in 2027, not Governor Otti.
In 2027, Mr. Oriaku and co will face the 9000 teachers employed by Governor Otti’s administration, alongside their families, and not Governor Otti himself.
In 2027, you will be confronted by the relatives and owners of 10,000 nano businesses, who were empowered by Governor Otti’s administration with N100,000 each, totaling N1 billion. You will not be facing Governor Otti.
In 2027, you will not only face the over 12,500 pensioners whose decade-long pension arrears have been cleared and regular full payments restored by Governor Otti but also their children and grandchildren.
In 2027, be ready to face the staff and relatives of Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Abia State University, Abia State ( ABSU), University Teaching Hospital (ABSUTH), College of Education Technical Arochukwu (ASCETA), Hospital Management Board (HMB), etc that you owed years and many months of salary arrears while leaving office.
The students of ABSU who will be living in the 5,000-capacity hostels being constructed by the administration of Governor Otti, along with those studying in the new faculties of Law and Agriculture buildings erected by the same administration, will be the ones waiting for you in 2027—alongside their parents—not Governor Otti.
The 300 Abians selected across the 184 Wards of the State, trained in mechanized Agriculture and its entire value chain at CSS Integrated Farms Nasarawa State and empowered with Millions to start their farming businesses, will be the ones waiting for you in 2027, not the Governor Otti. I’m sure they also have relatives and employees who want to use their vote to protect and sustain a system that has empowered them.
It is not just the over 60,000 civil and public servants who receive their salaries on or before the 28th of every month that you will be facing in 2027; you also have their family members and relatives to contend with, not Governor Otti.
The Abia Health workers whom Governor Otti has placed on the same salary scale with their counterparts at the Federal level will be the ones you will face in 2027 alongside their family members, not Governor Otti.
The 771 health workers currently being recruited by Governor Otti’s administration, along with their families, will be the ones waiting for you at the polls in 2027, not Governor Otti himself.
The people of Umunnechi and Isiukwuato LGAs who could not sleep with their eyes closed but fled their homes, abandoning their sources of livelihood as a result of insecurity, having now returned home, would be waiting for you in 2027 to campaign against Governor Otti. They won’t forget in a hurry how the Government Mr. Oriaku served allowed bandits, kidnappers, and hoodlums to make their areas living hell and how the administration of Governor Otti came to their rescue.
The residents and business owners in Aba would be waiting for Mr. Oriaku and co to tell them that a Governor who fixed Port Harcourt Road, Omuma Road, Oboha Road, Ohanku Road, and many other dilapidated strategic roads in Aba did not do well. By then, they would understand why they want Otti as Governor for 16, 24, and 32 years.
As Mr. Oriaku and co, drive to campaign against Governor Otti through the six lanes of Aguiyi Ironsi Boulevard, the 46.36km Umuahia-Uzuakoli – Akara Isiukwuato – Abiriba Road, and other hundreds of collapsed roads under the administration they served, now fixed by Governor Otti’s administration, Abians would be waiting for them to tell them that Gov. Otti did wrong by fixing those roads they failed to fix.
The Thousands of Abians accessing quality and affordable healthcare at the 200 Primary Health Centers already fixed by Otti’s administration and the many more that would have been fixed before 2027, if not all the 948 Primary Health Centers, would work against Mr. Oriaku and his co-travellers in 2027, not Governor Otti.
The people who are waiting for Mr. Oriaku and his co-travelers in the 2027 elections are those whose properties were destroyed by their Government without any compensation and abandoned the projects that led to this destruction.
Let me stop at these few mentioned achievements of Governor Otti out of the many achievements in the last 2 years. Governor Alex Otti, OFR, has repeatedly stated that the significant and visible progress Abia State has made under his administration in just two years is merely a dress rehearsal. This makes the forlorn efforts of Mr. Obinna Oriaku and his associates to unseat Governor Otti in 2027 not only frustrating but also a political suicide mission that will ultimately add to their political woes.
Nwahiwe Chinonyerem Cleverson, writes from Osisioma LGA of Abia.