The Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, says the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state is dead and will be buried on March 11, 2023.

Otti said Labour Party killed PDP, having won one out of three senatorial seats and six out of eight Federal House Constituency slots in the state, in the National Assembly election held Saturday, February 25, effectively making LP the leading party in Abia.

Speaking at a reception on Friday in Isialangwa by the CY Nwankwo Foundation to endorse his candidacy and adopt him for the March 11 governorship election in Abia, Otti said PDP, in a last ditch effort to hang on to power, has gone to town with evil propaganda against him.

“If you listen well, you will hear all the things coming out from this sinking state government of PDP. How they would unleash violence, how they would ensure that there won’t be any voting, how they would write results, how they would use money and buy up everybody and all that.

“They have also gone ahead to reappoint some miscreants they had sacked earlier as local government Transition Committee chairmen. I think they’re just reacting like a man that is drowning. But they’re already drowned and we are going to Bury them on the 11th of March.

“If you check the social media space, all what they’re doing now is releasing fake reports purportedly coming from me. One of the things they have said is that I am going to sack most of the civil servants. In fact, it’s the government appointees that are the ones circulating this on the various social media platforms.

“There’s another one, that I said I will jail former governor T. A. Orji, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and all their people; that I’ve threatened to put them in jail, as if I’m a warden or a judge or EFCC. What I’m coming to do is to work and the work is to liberate our people,” the renowned economist and top banker told his hosts.

According to Dr. Otti, his desire to redeem Abia State from the doldrums of underdevelopment and public opprobrium led him to resigning his plum job as chief executive officer of Nigeria’s one-time foremost new generation bank, Diamond Bank (now Access Bank), in 2014. He likened that sacrificial decision to the English proverb, breaking an egg to make omelette.

He said: “I want to develop this state. I want us to feel good as Abia people. I don’t want us to feel ashamed to introduce ourselves as coming from Abia, which is one of the reasons I came out to contest this election. That is why I thought I should break an egg to make omelette for all our people. Breaking an egg in this case for me is giving up my illustrious job as bank chief executive to launch this fight and I have been consistent since I started it.”

A release from Otti’s Media Aide Kazie Uko stated that the front-running gubernatorial candidate said he is determined and would do all that is both legally and morally acceptable to lead the fight to reclaim Abia from the stranglehold of the PDP.

“I want to reassure you that I’m determined, whatever it might take, the election, we must win and we must win because the Abia people support us. They’re not stupid. They know clearly what we’re coming to do. They know we have come to develop the state. They know we are not interested in corrupt practices. They know that we will not share Abia money. They know that we will use Abia money for Abia people. They know that I have a day job, that I have a second address, that politics is not my profession. They know that after I finish being governor for eight years that I will not contest for any other thing; I will not go to the senate.

“Elsewhere, the PDP government in Abia State should be apologising to us rather than seeking to succeed itself. Somebody should tell them that they should go on their knees and beg us for forgiveness because they have ruined this state rather than presenting themselves again for election. They should all withdraw because they have failed collectively,” Otti declared.

Otti, who was accompanied to the event by the newly elected member, Isialangwa South and North Federal Constituency, Hon Ginger Onwusibe and Isialangwa North State Constituency candidate, Hon Ambassador Innocent Uruakpa, thanked the founder and chairman board of trustees of the CY Nwankwo Foundation, Sir Cyprian Nwankwo and members of the non-partisan organisation for their endorsement and offer of support.

Earlier, while making his remarks, Sir Nwankwo said the foundation took the decision to endorse Otti’s candidacy because they see him as the most reliable of all the candidates that have lined up for the governorship seat of Abia. Besides, he said that the future of Abia people depends on the decision they make on the March 11 election.

“Our future will be secured if we do the right thing today by helping to bring Alex Otti to power in Abia State. And this we must do. When the state is secure, everything will be fine. When our money is used for us, everything will be fine. So you have the choice to make the right choice and it is now,” Nwankwo said.