‘Death Threats’: Abia People Will Fight Back, Otti Warns Gov Ikpeazu Ahead Of Governorship Election

… Says LP Will Reclaim Abia North Senatorial Seat From Orji Kalu

The Labour Party gubernatorial candidate in Abia State, Alex Otti, has warned that the party will no longer tolerate any form of attack or intimidation on its supporters ahead of the forthcoming governorship and state assembly elections in the state.

Otti also claimed that his party won the recent Abia North Senatorial Election which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared was won by Senator Orji Kalu, noting that the LP will reclaim its “stolen mandate” through the court.

Otti made the assertions during an exclusive interview with THE WHISTLER in Abia State.

A two-time contender for the Abia governorship seat, Otti lost the 2019 gubernatorial election to the incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party.

Otti is confident that with the massive support the LP is enjoying across the country, the party will sack the PDP from the Abia Government House at the governorship election rescheduled for March 18. The ruling party has occupied the office since 1999.

The LP believes that PDP’s alleged loss of goodwill arising from failure to regularly pay salaries of workers, clear arrears of retirement benefits due to pensioners, as well as address infrastructural deficits in the state, would work in its favour at the poll.

Ikpeazu’s recent loss at the Abia South Senatorial election is believed to also be an indication that the PDP is losing its place in the state.

In Abia Central, Darlington Nwokocha of the LP won the senatorial election while Orji Uzor Kalu of the All Progressives Congress retained his seat.

While expressing confidence that the LP will win the governorship election, Otti told THE WHISTLER that any form of voter intimidation or threats to scare voters away would be resisted.

“I want to advise the governor because he presides over meetings where threats are being issued. They say they are going to kill people and everybody must vote for the PDP but let me assure them that I am actually in charge of the greater percentage of the people and that we are not into violence doesn’t mean that we cannot fight back.

“The elections are coming up in less than a week, a lot of meetings are being held and people are being threatened to vote for a particular party or move away. Let me first of all let them know that Abia people are not stupid and that they are tolerant does not mean they are stupid.

“We want an election that is credible, free and fair and we want to sound a note of warning that the government presided over by governor Okezie Ikpeazu should be held responsible if there is a breakdown of law and order. We are not going to tolerate it. We have already taken so much.”

Otti noted that he doesn’t plan to resort to violence despite the provocation, adding that his supporters who he claims are over 80 per cent of the voters would resist the PDP.

“The Governor is occupying a seat that he did not merit, he did not win. A seat he inherited fraudulently and people have accommodated him enough. Let him not push his luck too far but I can assure him that if he is threatening people that they will die, except he left his life elsewhere.

“I’m not resorting to violence but the people are angry and he shouldn’t take them for granted. You push a man to the wall and he will fight back. So, I had always restrained people from violence and that was why in 2015 when I won an election, I allowed it to go when the Supreme Court ruled. People wanted to go to the streets and make the State ungovernable but u said no we don’t want that. But that does not mean that we should be taken for granted.

“He has finished eight years, he should just go home. The people rejected him at the polls. Why is he threatening people? Why is he changing the Transition Government LGA chairmen to violent people and touts? What does he want? Does he want to set the state on fire? And that is why I think he still needs to get the message. I think enough is enough.”

The LP candidate further insisted that the party’s mandate was stolen at the recent House of Representatives and Senatorial elections.

In the House of Reps contest, the LP won six out of the eight contested seats and hopes to win the Ukwa East/West Reps seat and reclaim the Abia North Senatorial seat via the court.

Otti said, “Out of the eight House of Representatives seats, we took six and we will probably take one more at the court. Out of the three Senatorial seats, we took one and will probably take one more. “