Following the pronouncement by Gov Alex Otti that the Abia State government will immortalise the returning officer in the 2023 governorship election, Prof Nnenna Oti, a group of professionals has asked him to shelve the plan, describing it as a superfluous act to curry future favour.
The group, Young Old Bende Professionals, said it would amount to anticipatory gratification to INEC by the governor to shield him in the 2027 general elections.
Otti had, at a reception in Aba by the Old Bende Progressive Union, announced the planned award, saying that Oti, who is the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, exhibited courage and integrity by refusing to compromise the results.
But in a statement in Umuahia on Sunday, the Young Old Bende Professionals faulted the governor and accused him of engaging in open solicitation ahead of the 2027 election.
In the statement signed by the Chairman, Barr. Chima Ogbonnaya, and the Secretary, Hon. Chief Chidozie Okwara, the group berated Otti for reducing governance to a circus show and personal aggrandisement.
“The election of 2023 has come and gone. If the governor is not trying to curry the favour of INEC to look out for him in 2027, why this fixation with Prof Nnenna Oti?” they asked.
They noted that Alex Otti had earlier in the year moved the entire Executive Council of Abia State to Afikpo to attend a mere traditional wedding ceremony of Prof Oti’s daughter and wondered if that was not enough appreciation.
According to them, going beyond that to immortalise Prof Oti when many founding fathers of the state have not been so honoured will amount to reducing governance to a circus show and chasing clout.
“What it means is that the other 35 governors will come out to immortalise the returning officers in their states to show gratitude to people who merely did their jobs as public servants. Won’t that be madness?” they asked.
They argued that, in the real sense, the credit for the electoral integrity should go to INEC as a body and not be personalised.
According to them, the real hero of the election was the collation officer for Obingwa Local Government Area, who refused to compromise the results despite immense pressure from politicians.
“What we are seeing here is that Alex Otti wants to position this woman to return in 2027. We see this as part of an elaborate plan by the governor to rig the 2027 election through covert manipulation of INEC,” they averred.
Meanwhile, the Young Old Bende Professionals has described the member representing Aba North/Aba South Federal Constituency, Hon. Mascot Ikwechegh, as an impostor for purporting to have organised a reception for the governor in the name of Old Bende.
The group noted that they had severally warned Ikwechegh to stop impersonating the union and described what happened in Aba at the weekend as a charade and the height of rascality.
“We are not against anyone receiving or bestowing honour on the governor, but it is deceitful to use the platform of Old Bende when we know that the real organisation that goes by that name had absolutely nothing to do with the reception.”
They averred that the venue for the reception, which held in Aba, exposed the organisers of the event as impostors.
According to them, “The political capital of Old Bende is Ohafia. You couldn’t hold the reception there. You couldn’t hold it even in Umuahia, but ran to Aba. That tells you that it was actually people residing in Aba that held the reception and not the people of Old Bende.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the leadership of Old Bende is not partisan. The Chairman remains Prof. Emejuoiwe, and the Secretary is Barr. Ume Kalu. Anyone who parades himself as leadership of the group outside these names is an impostor,” they submitted.
