The Abia State government has dismissed reports claiming that Governor Alex Chioma Otti has defected from the Labour Party (LP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC), describing them as “false and mischievous.”
In a statement released on Tuesday, October 21, the Commissioner for Information, Okey Kanu, said the story circulating on social media and some online platforms was fabricated by political propagandists unsettled by the Governor’s growing popularity and record of good governance.
He said the “baseless publication” was a desperate attempt to distract the people of Abia and create unnecessary confusion.
According to Kanu, Governor Otti “remains a committed and proud member of the Labour Party, the platform under which the good people of Abia overwhelmingly elected him to serve.”
He added that Otti’s focus “remains unshaken, to rebuild Abia, restore accountability, and deliver the dividends of democracy to every citizen of the state.”
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“It is important to remind the public that only last week, during the October edition of ‘Governor Alex Otti Speaks to Abians,’ the Governor made it unequivocally clear that his interest is not in political permutations or defections, but in service to humanity and the transformation of Abia State,” Kanu stated.
He added that Otti “reaffirmed that leadership, to him, is about impact, not political convenience.”
The Commissioner further explained that the Otti-led administration is committed to transparency, fiscal discipline, infrastructure renewal, economic growth, youth empowerment, and restoring public confidence in governance, all of which reflect the Labour Party’s core values.
“The public is therefore advised to disregard the false report and treat it as another cheap propaganda orchestrated by those whose only aim is to divert attention from the monumental progress currently being recorded in Abia State,” Kanu said.
“We wish to assure Abians that Governor Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, remains resolute in his mission to continue to build a new Abia where truth, justice, and equity prevail under the banner of the Labour Party,” he added.