The Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, amid renewed crisis rocking the Labour Party, says he is doubling down on grassroots mobilisation as a counterweight to internal party distractions, asserting that the party is bigger than any individual interest.
Governor Otti who disclosed this at his country home in Nvosi on Saturday, inaugurated a new leadership team for Abia Arise, a political support structure believed to have played a significant role in his 2023 electoral victory under the Labour Party.
The move comes in the wake of controversies trailing the Supreme Court judgement that sacked the Barr. Julius Abure-led faction of the Labour Party.
Addressing the tension, Otti urged aggrieved party members to embrace unity and avoid actions capable of weakening the party.
“The party (LP) is bigger and more important than any and every of us put together. The triumph of evil over good is for a moment. So we thank God for yesterday. We somehow believe that justice will be done to Labour Party,” he said.
While reacting to statements from members of the sacked faction, Otti said, “I was watching and saw some people making some claims of them not being removed by the Supreme court. We can as well ignore them but I will not ignore them.
“I want to appeal to them to give peace a chance except if what they wanted in the first place is to destroy the party, and if they want to destroy the party, they will destroy themselves and the party will become even stronger.”
He emphasized that the Labour Party must rise above internal conflicts to focus on service delivery and development, especially in states like Abia where governance expectations remain high.
In his address during the inauguration, Governor Otti unveiled the new leadership of Abia Arise, with Mazi Nkem Okoro appointed as State Chairman, Mrs. Sophia Chidinma Ikpeama as Vice Chairman, and Dr. Sylvester Ibeneme as Secretary among others.
He said the reconstitution of the leadership was aimed at “injecting new blood into the organisation to continually engage the people and get feedbacks to promote good governance in the State.”
“Every community matters to us. So we have appointed you to become our eyes and ears in your various localities working closely with other stakeholders to enable us serve our people better,” Otti noted.
He urged the new leaders to play a crucial role in maintaining a robust grassroots presence and galvanizing support for ongoing reforms and development efforts.
“Your job will be to go into the communities and galvanize the support that we would need to consolidate on the immense gain that has be recorded in the last 22 months,” the governor added.
Governor Otti also emphasized the importance of unity, warning against infighting which could derail the vision that birthed Abia Arise in 2013. He revealed that the organisation was pivotal to his campaign machinery when he moved to the Labour Party in 2022.
He further encouraged the new team to ensure the group has visibility across all local government areas and assured them that the board of trustees would provide the necessary support.
Responding on behalf of his colleagues, the newly appointed Chairman of Abia Arise, Mazi Nkem Okoro, expressed gratitude to the governor for the opportunity to serve and hailed his leadership style which, according to him, has positively impacted lives in the state.
He pledged to align with the governor’s vision, promising that Abia Arise would remain the backbone of Otti’s political engagements and governance success in Abia.
