Abia State Governor Dr Alex Otti
…Says APC has no hand in LP Problems
From Idu Jude, Abuja
Governor of Abia State Chief Alex Chioma Otti, has said that the Labour Party will not be part of the opposition coalition preparatory to the 2027 presidential election.
Governor Otti, who spoke shortly after the Inaugural meeting of the newly elected National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, on Thursday, emphatically stated that the party is not and would not subscribe to Ibadan opposition arrangements towards the presidential election.
Commenting on the readiness of the party to field a presidential candidate, he highlighted that the party is always ready to present a candidate for the 2027 presidential election, provided the candidate meets party requirements.
“Who said that we are not prepared? Because we have already said we are prepared. So if you are interested, just dust your shoes and throw yourself into the race. It is a democracy. You cannot stop anybody who wants to run. So it is the people who will decide who will lead them. But the party provides a platform, and there are conditions for you to emerge. You must be a member of the party. You must be a financial member of the party. And if you meet all those conditions, nobody can stop you.
“So if you meet the requirements of the party and you want to run, we’ll give you a ticket.”
Speaking on the alleged third columnist destabilizing the opposition parties, he said, “Maybe you have an anointing to see a visible hand. Or are you seeing any hand there? There is no substance here. APC was there in 2023 when we started the party right? So APC will remain a political party. The People’s Party will remain a political party. The problem we had was internal problems that have been taken care of, and not from APC”.
On whether Abure and others still have chances of joining the party, he said, “If you followed the convention, we had over 25 state chairmen in attendance, and out of them were former Chairmen on the former chairman Julius Abure, who were also elected into the National Executive Council (NEC)
Meanwhile, Governor Otti, has congratulated the new National Working Committee (NWC) on their elections and commended them to take the party to an enviable height.
“Incidentally, this serves as the inaugural meeting of the National Working Committee of the Labour Party, which was set up after the conference So I came in as an observer. I was permitted to be allowed to observe.
“Everything went very well. Most of the members were in attendance physically, and I would like to use this opportunity to congratulate the leadership of the National Chairman of the party for being found worthy to lead this party for the next four years.
“We have absolute confidence in her capacity and ability to lead, just like she did in the last two years as the candidate. And I’d like to also congratulate the other 33 members of the National Working Committee and the other committee members. I do not doubt that as the events unfold, including primaries, including voting, and so on, that you will also show your capacity to lead”.
