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Tag: Otti

  • Reagan, Otti to know fate May 27

    A Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia, the Abia State capital said it would on May 27 deliver judgment in a suit filed before it by Reagan Ufomba against Dr. Alex Otti, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the just concluded governorship polls and re-run.

    Ufomba had approached the court seeking to know why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) excluded him from contesting and instead, recognised Otti whom he claimed emerged through an illegally constituted body that organised the party’s primaries last year.

    Counsels to the plaintiff and the defendant, Clement Onwuenweunor and Awa Kanu, in a 3-hour hearing process, presented their arguments for and against the suit.

    Onwuenweunor told the court that Chief Victor Umeh, who served out his tenure on December 4 2014, had no right to constitute any committee to hold primaries for the party. He urged the court to declare Alex Otti’s emergence as the party’s flag bearer null and void.

    He added that since Umeh was a senatorial candidate in the March 28 National Assembly elections, he had forfeited the right to nominate anyone as the party’s flag bearer.

    Awa Kanu in his defence argued that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.

    The presiding judge adjourned the case to May 27 for judgment.

  • Southeast Assembly condemns Ohanaeze’s support for Otti

    Southeast Assembly condemns Ohanaeze’s support for Otti

    A socio-political group, Southeast Progressives Assembly (SEPA), has slammed the Southwest chapter of Ohanaeze Ndigbo for supporting the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti.

      It accused Ohanaeze of ‘being driven by sentiment to campaign for APGA and its candidate’.

    The Southwest zone of Ohanaeze, in a publication, claimed that Otti won the election, yet it called for fresh elections, saying the election was marred by irregularities.

    In a statement, titled: Ohaneze Ndigbo: APGA In Disguise, signed by Ebere Uzoukwa and Comrade Munonye Maximus, president and secretary, SEPA said that Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won the Abia governorship election, having defeated Dr. Alex Otti of APGA with 83,053 votes.

    The statement reads: “One of the most prominent socio-cultural groups in the Southeast geo-political zone – Ohanaeze Ndigbo, by approbating and reprobating on the pages of some national newspapers on the outcome of the Abia State governorship election, is beginning to lose its credibility.”

    “The organisation, which claimed to be non-political, is now driven by sentiment to campaign for APGA. It is sponsoring publications capable of destroying its reputation and further dragging the image of the Igbo into the mud.

    “Evidently, a careful consideration of the positions taken by the pro-APGA group shows that there is no iota of truth in their publications but a calculated attempt to mislead the people.

    “INEC did not declare Otti winner of the election. It is on record from INEC sources, both in the print and electronic media, that Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu of PDP took the lead with 248,459 votes while Dr. Alex Otti managed only 165,406 votes.

    “What then is the basis for claiming that Otti won when  Ikpeazu defeated him with 83,053 votes?”

    “It is unfortunate that the same group that prayed for a declaration of Otti as the winner also called for a rerun. Does it mean that Ohanaeze wants INEC to declare someone the winner of an election, which they knew was characterised by irregularities?

    “They cannot be speaking from both sides of their mouth. Obviously, their publication is a product of sentiment and natural hatred on the candidacy of Victor Ikpeazu”.

  • Abia polls: Anyim, Otti, call for cancellation

    Abia polls: Anyim, Otti, call for cancellation

    •It’s free and fair- Ikpeazu

    The governorship candidate of All Progressives Congress [APC] in Abia State, Dr. Nyerere Chinenye Anyim, and his All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) counterpart, Dr. Alex Otti, have called for total cancellation of  April 11 polls in Abia State.

    Anyim and Otti who spoke to journalists at their Agburuike and Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa residents respectively, described the election across the 17 Local Government Areas in the state as a sham, citing cases of electoral irregularities: snatching of ballot boxes, using fake uniformed men among other electoral offences.

    But in his speech, the PDP governorship candidate, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, who voted in his Umuobiakwa Ward 7, told our correspondent that the exercise was very smooth as there were no incidents.

    In his contribution, the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji, expressed satisfaction with the impressive turnout of voters for the governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.

    Speaking after casting his vote at his Ugba ward 1, he noted that there was a remarkable improvement from what obtained during the Presidential and National Assembly polls.

    But according to Otti, “There was no election in Abia State. The governor (T.A Orji) and PDP in collaboration with INEC officials went to various polling units and withdrew the original result sheets, which they replaced with a fake one.

    “We have information as I speak with you (journalists) that PDP are thumb printing ballot papers in the official residence of a top PDP member in the state.

    “They are going around using thugs who wield machetes and fire arms, shooting sporadically in the air to harass and scare people away before snatching the ballot papers and result sheets. They are also doing this, using fake uniformed men, to cart away the election materials.

    “It is the same situation in Umuahia, Aba North and South, Umuahia North and South, Ohafia, Umunneochi. In fact, there is no election in Abia State and I am calling on the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega, to cancel the election in the entire 17 Local Government Areas of the state because what we witnessed is a total sham and cannot in any way be described as an election. We have evidences and genuine reason to call for the cancelation of the poll”.

    Anyim also regretted reported cases of ballot snatching, intimidation of the opposition by the ruling party, stressing that the act of thuggry and ballot box stealing as was reported by their agents in the field shows the desperateness of the ruling party.

    According to him, “It was primitive. Nigeria is too big for such a thing to happen; where election materials were being stolen. It shows that they (PDP) have failed the state because if they did well, they wouldn’t have resorted to stealing of ballot boxes and other sensitive materials. It is a total shame and shows how they have failed in giving the people of the state, good governance.”

  • Anyim, Otti, call for cancellation of polls

    Anyim, Otti, call for cancellation of polls

    The Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief Nyerere Anyim and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Alex Otti have called for a total cancellation of ‎April 11 polls in Abia State.

    Anyim and Otti who spoke to journalists at their Agburuike and Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa residents described the election across the 17 Local Government Areas in the state as a sham, citing cases of electoral irregularities: snatching of ballot boxes, using fake uniformed men among other electoral offences.

    According to Otti, “There no was no election in Abia State. The Governor (T.A Orji) and PDP in collaboration with INEC officials went to various polling units and withdraw the original result sheet which they replaced with a fake one.

    “We have information as I speak with you (journalists) that PDP are thumb printing ballot papers in the official residence of a top PDP member in the state.

    “They are going around using thugs who wield machetes and fire arms, shooting sporadically in the air to harass and scare people away before snatching the ballot papers and result sheets. They are also doing this using fake uniformed men to cart away the election materials.

    “It is the same situation in Umuahia, Aba North and South, Umuahia North and South, Ohafia, Umunneochi. In fact, there is no election in Abia State and I am calling on the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Attahiru Jega to cancel the election in the entire 17 Local Government Areas of the state because what we witnessed is a total sham and cannot in any way be described as an election. We have evidences and genuine reason to call for the cancelation of the poll”.

    The APGA guber candidate however expressed the optimism that he would still defeat the ruling party in the state if the election was reconducted in a credible and transparent atmosphere

    Anyim while appraising the conduct of the polls said it was peaceful in his area and however regretted reported pockets of ballot snatching, intimidation of the opposition by the ruling party, stressing that the act of thuggrey and ballot box stealing as was reported by their agents in the field shows the desperateness of the ruling party.

    According to him, “It was primitive. Nigeria is too big for such a thing to happen; where election materials were being stolen. It shows that they (PDP) have failed the state because if they did well, they wouldn’t have resorted to stealing of ballot boxes and other sensitive materials. It is a total shame and shows how they have failed in giving the people of the state, good governance. It shows that they have badly managed the state and that is why the people need change which APC is going to bring to the state when we come on board as a government that the people of the state is truly yarning for which the PDP has failed to achieve in the last 16years of their administration in the state.”

    Also speaking, a chieftain of APGA and the Abia Central Senatorial candidate of the party‎ in the just concluded National Assembly election, Chief Ahamdi Emmanuel Nweke, corroborating Dr. Otti’s position accused the ruling party of rigging the process and accused the PDP of causing mayhem all over the state.

    According to Nweke, “the actions of the PDP an‎d some corrupt INEC officials is a rape to democracy”.

    The Nation gathered that security agents in the state recovered 2 AK47 and 49 raps of Indian hemp from hoodlums who were yet to name their sponsor.

     

     

  • Otti’s name missing on INEC list

    Otti’s name missing on INEC list

    The Abia State branch of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the names of the candidates for the governorship election, with the name of former Chief Executive of Diamond Bank Plc Dr. Alex Otti missing.

    A source said this might have been as a result of the double primaries by his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

  • Otti picks running mate

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has picked Dr. Eme Uche as his running mate.

     Otti, unveiling her at a meeting with  stakeholders in Asaga, Ohafia, said his choice was based on his conviction that she was not only a credible running mate, but would also be resourceful.

    Otti said Dr. Uche, a political scientist and a lecturer at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, was chosen because of her educational track record, her humility and prudence.

    He decried infrastructural decay, which he alleged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had plunged the state into and vowed to salvage the situation.

    Some of the Ohafia and Abia stakeholders including Kalu Idika Kalu, former finance minister and Umah Eleazu hailed Otti for not only vying for the governorship, but also choosing their daughter as his running mate.

    They said they were optimistic that the pair was a perfect one and enjoined people to vote for them.

    Mrs. Uche said she was happy to be considered by Dr. Otti.

  • Otti decries billboards’ destruction in Aba

    Otti decries billboards’ destruction in Aba

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Alex Otti, has condemned the destruction of his billboards in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, by suspected hoodlums.

    Otti, who spoke to reporters through the Director-General of his campaign organisation, Chief Ahamdi Nweke, after a tour of the city to assess the  damage, described the action as criminal and counterproductive.

    Nweke, who described Otti as the man the indigenes were expecting to develop the state, alleged that the attack was carried out by those afraid of his acceptance.

    He said: “The Alex Otti Campaign Organisation erected billboards everywhere in the town, but as you can see, the opposition have destroyed them.

    “They do this because the state wants a change. Because Aba people have through their actions made it clear that they want a change. They believe they can stop the change by destroying the billboards of the man, who is going to bring about the change.”

    The director-general, berating the perpetrators, said: “What we expect from those who destroyed the billboards is to campaign as Otti is doing, rather than engage in barbarism and vandalism.

    “What we expect the opposition to do is to campaign as we are doing. We are going door to door, market to market, shop to shop, speaking to people on the change we must have in Abia. We have been in this mess for years and people think we must have a credible leader like Dr. Otti, the governorship candidate of APGA.

    “It is shameful and unfortunate that people have resorted to vandalism and thuggery.

    “A huge amount was spent on the billboards. But they have been destroyed by people who ought to have erected their own.”

    Nweke accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of carrying out the act “because the party’s billboards were not touched.”

    He alleged: “It is not difficult to know where these destructions came from, because the few billboards PDP has in the town were not touched. Although what it has in most places are banners.

    “We will not attack PDP because it is not in existence in the state. You will remember that before the state congresses, Abia PDP was dissolved, the local government executives were dissolved, the ward executives were dissolved. So, there is no PDP in the state. This is why APGA has taken the centre stage and everyone is supporting the party.”

    The director-general urged APGA’s supporters to remain calm, saying Otti was a decent man, who would not be involved in violence.

  • Firms must pay their debts, says Otti

    Power firms must meet their debt obligations to banks or lose out, the Group Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc, Dr Alex Otti has said.

    At a national discourse in Lagos, Otti said the firms were required to pay back debts owed the banks to sustain the relationship.

    He said: “In respect of the firms that bided and bought the assets of PHCN, loans given to them must be paid to ensure mutual growth. The story of power supply is all too familiar with current peak time generating capacity of about 4,517 megawatts when there is estimated latent demand of 19,000 to 20,000 megawatts.

    ‘’We will not mourn a lot about this, but will like to take the discourse to the direction of how our infrastructural deficit can be addressed in an accelerated manner.

    “Good enough, a step has been taken in the right direction with the establishment of a Sovereign Wealth Fund of $1billion and a clear mandate to invest part of the money in infrastructural development. We need to take an additional step to ensure sustainability of this initiative by ensuring that the funding mechanism is agreed upon by all parties – Federal, state, and local governments.’’

    He said privatisation is good, if it is done properly. Otti said the government invested a lot of money on Ajaokuta and Osogbo Steel Rolling Mills without achieving success. He said most banks engage in oil and gas transactions, without having knowledge of what it entails.