Gov Alex Otti 


By John Billion


Recently, our sister and former Minister of Finance, Dr (Mrs) Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who is also the current DG of World Trade Organization (WTO), addressed members of the Nigerian Bar Association and made incisive recommendations on how national and sub-national leaders can optimally work to improve the fortunes of their territories by implementing a wholesome social contract with the people. As usual, her presentation was well received and shared across social media platforms.


A popular community and political development advocate within the online social media space in Nigeria, Okeh Onyekachi Chukwuemeka OOC, who is apparently from Abia State, after listening to Dr Ngozi’s presentation, decided to localize her address to the current Abia situation. He took up each issue she treated and examined it against what obtains in Abia State in an effort to drive the message home. Indeed, when I read his publication, I personally felt he was too charitable to Governor Alex Otti and my further review of his other social media interventions showed an analyst who  leaned towards the incumbent in the hope that he would do better than his predecessors, but is now obviously disappointed that the government is on a trajectory that will lead the state to a much worse place.


I carefully observed from the material posted by Okeh Onyekachi Chukwuemeka that he used few direct quotes from NOI while the rest were his personal views or, at best, an analysis of what she said using Abia examples. He never claimed that everything he wrote came from the lips of Daa Ngo, as we fondly call her in Abia, and personally, I could not see what will trouble a serious government that is willing to accept criticisms from citizens. It remains my unwavering view that his review was too kind to a government that is neck-deep in official sleaze with tens of billions of naira written off with non-existent projects.


After reading the disclaimer of Dr Okonjo-Iweala, the first thing that came to my mind was that either she was pressured by the Otti administration to release that statement without necessarily reviewing what was actually written or that her aides posted the statement without a thorough review with her. Sincerely, there was no need for her to make the twitter post based on the fact that the version of the contentious article I read merely borrowed from her well intentioned speech to further demand better governance in Abia State. Citizens of other states who are desirous of better governance could also have done same thing by citing her as an authority in fiscal prudence and leadership responsibility then localize her advocacy by adaptation. What will be wrong is to make statements in quote and pass off as coming from her when they are not. 


Suffice it to state that there might be a different version of the publication by Onyekachi that I am yet to read. If so, I plead that our beloved Daa Ngo understand that the author was merely attempting to localize her powerful message. 


There is no surprise in the coterie of statements released by Governor Otti through his media 'boyoyos' after the X (formerly Twitter) disclaimer by the DG of WTO. It is in character and also aligns with the saying in Igbo land that “akpo nwata ya akpo iko nne ya”. Apparently, Abia PDP is the iko nne of the current administration in the state and nobody should expect them to say anything without talking about Abia PDP. Whoever has something critical to say about the financial profligacy, lies and large scale misgovernance of the Otti administration must be a member of PDP or hired by PDP, according to the book of Linus used by the government. 


It doesn’t matter that Dr Alex Otti evidently was a major player in Abia PDP of the so-called years of misrule and was in a position to stop the things he previously alleged, without proof, from happening. I maintain that if PDP was bad for Abia in the years alleged by Mazi Alex Otti of Nvosi government house then he bears a very high responsibility as the man who was an integral part of and helped to bury the financial dead bodies, hence should tell us where the Cemetery is located or accept that he was a well rewarded accomplice and undertaker in those years and now these months. 


The examples of hypocritical flip-flopping by Dr Alex Otti and his administration when criticized by genuine critics are too many to recount. Engr Eke Ako criticized PDP administrations in the state with Dr Alex Otti and his media 'boyoyos' praising him as the best thing after ofe nsala but once the popular good governance advocate started reviewing and making public the numerous  financial malfeasance and general misrule of the Otti administration he became public enemy Number 1 “sponsored by Abia PDP”. Same with popular lawyer and social critic Liborous Oshoma who Otti took pictures with and praised as a hero of democracy in Abia State just last year only to now turn around and vilify him after he pointed out the deceitful lies and propaganda focus of his administration as another person sponsored by Abia PDP. 


Whoever has something to say against Otti’s administration is automatically enemy of Abia state sponsored by Abia PDP. Same Abia PDP his 'boyoyos' are concurrently mocking for not having money to sponsor media operatives.


While going through previous writings of Mr Okeh Onyekachi, I saw these lines in an article he authored and posted on 02/08/2024: “The beneficiaries of my votes (in 2023) were Mr. Peter Obi , Senator Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah and Mr. Nonso Smart Okafor. They belonged to Labour Party, YPP and APC respectively. Party didn't matter to me but the individuals did.”


Apparently he is not a card-carrying member of Abia PDP, lives and votes in Anambra State and, more crucially, he was one of those political activists called “Obidients”. It was members of this same group in Abia State that also mobilized support for the election of Dr Alex Otti in 2023, even though pride never allowed him to positively  acknowledge them or even Mazi Peter Obi as playing any major role in his emergence. If only Otti’s media 'boyoyos' had reviewed the author as expected they probably wouldn’t have wasted time making Abia PDP more popular as they are doing currently. 


The noise about who is paid what by Abia PDP is another tragedy of memory loss by a government living in denial. While in the opposition how much was Alex Otti paying those now mocking Abia PDP? How many of them received more than N10k from him then? In any case, what they thought they uncovered through a “leak” from a pro-PDP platform merely confirmed that those leaders they have been ignorantly lambasting are not the ones “funding“ Abia PDP media activities but instead, it is ordinary members that are contributing to run the media engagements and keep the government in check for the sake of Ndi Abia.


If those they claimed are receiving N30k can do the great job of holding the high paying Otti government to account, then those folks deserve national awards for patriotism, especially knowing that they continue to resist offers to join the profligate Otti administration because they patriotically prefer to make sacrifices to stop an Emperor from destroying our beloved state seeing that our people made the mistake of voting for him because of their love for Mazi Peter Obi.


We already know that all you need to get the Otti administration to open its corruptly enriched vault and pay you millions of naira is to say “I used to work with PDP media team”, whether true or false. If you further abuse any leader of PDP, our dear Governor Otti will call you personally to thank you with wads of ill-gotten bank notes from the N1billion he takes monthly as security votes. In due course, he will learn a lesson we learned long ago in Abia PDP but suffice it to state that our party is a well organized political party with well defined channels for official communication. If only LP had moved from being an election 'molue' bus to a proper political party, those in Nvosi 'Government House' would have known that only certain officially designated individuals can speak for Abia PDP. Every other person or member of the party remains free to express personal views as permitted by our 1999 constitution (as amended).


In conclusion, I think there is one issue raised in the Okeh Onyekachi’s intervention that deserves urgent response from Governor Alex Otti: why was Enyimba Economic City (EEC) Project abandoned? If the Governor fails to address this issue, he should not blame anyone who hazards a guess or shares information from the promoters of the project who are currently whispering what purportedly transpired in a meeting between Governor Alex Otti and CEO of Crown Realities last year.


My dear Governor, focus your well funded, in your own view, media 'boyoyos' to tell the people of Abia State why you killed Enyimba Economic City Project allegedly because the promoters refused to allot shares to you as a person. This rumor is similar to what we heard transpired between you and Prof Barth Nnaji of Geometric Power Company that led to your personal public denial of Abia’s $3.5 million investment in the Aba IPP even when you knew otherwise. 


Is it true you killed Enyimba Economic City because the promoters refused to succumb to your corrupt demand for personal shares in the project? When the WTO DG harped on policy inconsistency and accused leaders of  “allowing politics to frame policy” and exhibition of  “not made in my adminstration syndrome” in leadership she spoke directly to the situation with the laudable Enyimba Economic City project commenced by the Ikpeazu administration which was not only abandoned but tactically killed by the Alex Otti government.


I believe Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will also want to know the answer to this EEC question as someone who believes in great development ideas driven by the private sector with government support, and free from official arm-twisting. She will also feel better, as a transparency and good governance advocate, when Governor Alex Otti copiously explain the billions of naira paid out from our state account using  non-existent projects like N6.5 billion recreation center, N3billion ICT center and the recurrent new looting lingo called “retrofitting” that was smartly introduced to loot us dry while abandoning the development plan launched by his predecessor.


Why did you kill Enyimba Economic City Project, Governor Alex Otti? Is it true you killed Enyimba Economic City because the promoters refused to succumb to corrupt demands for personal shares in the project? Where is our N6.5 billion recreation center and N3 billion ICT center, among others?