RismadarVoice Reporters
September 17, 2026
Abia State Governor Alex Otti has said he does not intend to become a political godfather after leaving office, maintaining that the choice of his eventual successor should rest with the people of the state.
Otti made the remarks on Thursday at the Labour Party State Secretariat in Umuahia while receiving the Social Democratic Party’s 2023 Abia governorship candidate, Dr Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Chukwunenye, into the Labour Party.
The governor, who is seeking a second term in the 2027 election, said that if he completes another tenure in 2031, he intends to step away rather than attempt to exercise control over a succeeding administration. Otti’s current campaign for another term is publicly underway.
He said the process of identifying a future candidate should involve consultations aimed at selecting who party stakeholders consider suitable, after which voters would ultimately determine the outcome at the election.
Otti also said he had no ambition to move to the Senate after serving as governor, arguing that younger Nigerians should increasingly be given opportunities to assume leadership positions.
According to him, political leaders should avoid what he described as a “sit-tight syndrome” and create opportunities for younger people who have the skills and training to take on public responsibilities.
The governor also defended the record of his administration, particularly its work in Aba and Umuahia, while saying development efforts would increasingly extend into communities outside the major urban centres.
Otti’s administration has continued to highlight road rehabilitation and other infrastructure projects in both cities and rural areas as part of its development programme.
FORMER SDP CANDIDATE JOINS LABOUR PARTY
Johnson-Chukwunenye, who contested the 2023 Abia governorship election on the SDP platform, said she decided to join the Labour Party after assessing developments under Otti’s administration.
She cited the payment of workers’ salaries and arrears, attention to pensioners and road projects in Aba and Umuahia among the reasons for her decision.
Her move follows her recent public endorsement of Otti for another term alongside other former 2023 governorship contenders.
Otti is currently the national leader of the Labour Party, a position affirmed by the party’s National Working Committee in January 2026.
The governor’s comments on succession concern a potential transition after 2031 and do not determine who would succeed him, as any eventual successor would still have to emerge through the applicable party and electoral processes.