Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has said that his interest and that of his brother governors from the states that make up the Ohanaeze Ndigbo is the development and unity of the people.
Governor Otti disclosed this on Tuesday when he received in an audience the newly elected President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Sen. John Azuta Mbata and Deputy National President, Prince Okey Nwadinobi, in his Umuehim Nvosi country home in Isiala Ngwa South LGA, who came to express their gratitude to him for his support and that of other governors, which made their emergence in the recently conducted Ohanaeze Ndigbo election possible.
“You, President General, I have known you for decades. Just like you spoke kindly about me, I also know you. I know your capacity and know what you stand for.
“I do not doubt that in this role, you will continue to do what you have been known for, which is consistency, truthfulness, fairness, equity, and transparency.
“I can vouch for you. I was very pleased when you showed interest. My colleagues and I also looked at it, and we said if people like this are showing interest, they should be given an opportunity,” Governor Otti stated.
Governor Otti congratulated Sen. Mbata for his emergence and assumption of office. He re-echoed his belief that leadership is about the welfare of the people; hence, he has prioritized payment of salaries on or before the 28th of every month, building roads, and extending infrastructure to rural areas to create access for easy movement of people and their services from one place to another, etc.
Governor Otti assured Sen. Mbata of his support and that of his colleagues to ensure that they succeed, saying that, although the job is not an easy one, he expressed confidence that he will succeed.
“I know that you will succeed. You can also count on the support of the governors—the 7 of us—because we all consulted and we all met, sometimes virtually. None of us has any personal interest.
“Our interest is the development and unity of our people. So, if any of us comes to you to say, Do something wrong, that person is stepping out of the line.
“We all agreed that this time around, Ohanaeze should be focused on uniting the people, creating that leadership of our heritage, so that we can all do well as a people,” the governor asserted.
Earlier in his speech, Sen. Mbata thanked Governor Otti for his support alongside his brother governors, whom he acknowledged that their support made his emergence possible.
He said that their presence in the election of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo National Executives held on Friday, 10th January, underscores the importance they place on Ohanaeze Institution.
He assured that they would work closely with Governor Otti and the other 6 governors to pursue common goals.
“We will come and pay an official visit with the new EXCO, but on a personal level, I thought that we should come and register our gratitude and tell you that we will consult, collaborate, and cooperate with you all the way.
“We are hoping that we would be able to tap into your wealth of experience as somebody well-grounded within the private and public spheres. Your approach and perspective to issues will be a lot more different,” Sen. Mbata remarked.
He commended Governor Otti for the great work that he is doing in Abia State, saying that he expected nothing less having known him for a long time.
“I want to congratulate you on the excellent work you are doing. Abia State, in my view, is lucky to have somebody like you. Especially with the experience and history of governments that have not exactly met the expectations of the people.
“You have brought a magic wand and everybody is amazed at how the resources of the Government of Abia are being put to effective use to work for the people and everybody is seeing the results and people are happy.
“I have known you sufficiently to know that this is exactly what is going to happen. I didn’t expect anything less,” Sen. Mbata asserted.
