Buhari has not endorsed any aspirant as Abia APC governorship candidate – Otti

Frontline governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State, Dr Alex Otti, has called on party members to discountenance rumour that President Muhammadu Buhari has endorsed a particular aspirant as candidate for the 2023 election.

Otti’s Media Office, in a statement on Thursday, urged supporters not to give heed to the “misleading social media propaganda” which was given vent by one Facebook user, Chima Onyekwere, who claimed in a post that an aspirant, order than Otti, has been endorsed.

Otti, a foremost opposition voice in Abia, has remained a torn in the flesh of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, constantly holding the state leadership to account on issues of economic and infrastructural development of the state and welfare of its citizenry.

Since declaring interest for the governorship of Abia in 2023 and subsequently picking the APC nomination and expression of interest forms, Otti has received wide-spread commendations and endorsements from party leaders and followers.

READ: Abia group congratulates Otti, raises N50m for 2023 Governorship form

One of such came from an elder statesman, Senator Chris Adighije, a chieftain of APC, who described Otti as “the best man for the job” of chief executive of Abia State.

The coming of the former APGA gubernatorial candidate in the 2019 election and the collapsing of his formidable political structures into APC, observers believe, have put the APC, a hitherto fledgling party, in a comfortable position to dismantle the PDP choking grip on Abia, since 1999.

Below, RELIABLESOURCENG.COM reproduces the full text of the release:

PRESIDENT BUHARI HAS NOT ENDORSED ANY GOVERNORSHIP CANDIDATE IN ABIA

The attention of the Media Office of a frontline Governorship Aspirant, Dr. Alex Otti OFR has been drawn to a misleading media propaganda being sponsored and circulated by an unpopular governorship aspirant under the platform of the APC, alleging that he has been anointed by President Muhammadu Buhari as the candidate of the APC in Abia.

The aspirant and his agents went further to claim that other governorship aspirants under the platform of the APC have been asked to step down for him.

We wish to state categorically that, this claim is false, baseless, unfounded and misleading. No aspirant has been anointed by the President, and no aspirant has been compelled to step down.

The unpopular aspirant behind the misleading propaganda is afraid of democratic contest due to his unpopularity and lack of followership within and outside the party, hence his resort to deceitful strategy as a means to winning the ticket of the APC.

We therefore urge our party members, stakeholders and supporters to ignore the fast-spreading propaganda and continue to stand by and queue behind Dr. Alex Otti who is capable of winning both the ticket and the governorship election through inclusive campaign and mobilization of party and non-party members, leaders and supporters at all levels.

Ferdinand Ekeoma

19/05/2022