I Won’t Leave Labour Party With Obi — Governor Otti Insists

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has firmly ruled out defecting from the Labour Party, even as the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, Peter Obi, prepares to exit the platform.

Speaking on Tuesday during his monthly media briefing in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, Otti said he has chosen to remain in the Labour Party to contribute to its rebuilding and repositioning.

The governor confirmed that Obi had personally informed him of his plan to leave the party, stressing that while he respects the decision, his own political journey will take a different course.

“If you remember, I joined the Labour Party before Peter Obi, so I did not join the party with him. He has communicated to me that he is leaving the Labour Party. I gave him my blessings. But I will remain in the Labour Party, and I told him that I would continue the struggle to rescue the Labour Party,” Otti said.

He described the Labour Party as the platform that brought him to office and maintained that his loyalty remains with the party for now.

“That is the party that brought me to power. If we fight and get to the end, and we are able to reposition the Labour Party, then we can discuss other options. Therefore, for now, I am not defecting to any party,” the governor added.

Otti also responded to calls by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who recently urged him to join the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). He said he was uninterested in political distractions and preferred to concentrate on governance.

“Ordinarily, I would not respond to matters like that,” Otti said, noting that his priority remains delivering on his mandate to the people of Abia State.

While acknowledging Kalu’s recent distribution of financial support to vulnerable residents, the governor said the gesture aligned with his own appeal for assistance to the less privileged during the Christmas season.

“I thank him for doing that,” he said, adding that he has deliberately chosen a calm and principled approach to political provocations.

Quoting former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Otti remarked: “You will never get to your destination if you stop to throw stones at every dog that barks,” stressing that his administration would remain focused on its responsibilities to the people of Abia State.

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