[VIDEO] ‘You can’t speak for everyone in south-east’ on Tinubu’s re-election, Alex Otti counters Uzodimma

Abia State Governor Alex Otti has challenged a recent claim by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma that all five South-East governors have agreed to support President Bola Tinubu’s bid for a second term.

Otti spoke on Thursday during his July media briefing in Umuahia.

Uzodimma had earlier said, during a meeting with the Imo State Elders Council and traditional rulers in Owerri, that Tinubu had demonstrated “unprecedented commitment” to the development of the South-East through the Renewed Hope Agenda.

“The South-east has decided. Our people judge governments by performance and not by political sentiments. The evidence is on the ground,” Uzodimma said.

“We, the five governors of the south-east, have reviewed all options and decided that we will work with President Bola Tinubu because we want to be part of the Project Nigeria.”

‘He can’t speak for everyone’

Reacting to the statement, Otti said Uzodimma was entitled to express his personal opinion as a governor but could not claim to speak for all governors in the region.

“You said the governor of Imo state said something about re-electing the president. I am not sure I have heard that. But if he said that, it is his right to say it as a governor and as an individual. But he can’t speak for everybody,” Otti said.

“I’m sure that at the appropriate time, people would take their decision. I think it’s still early days.”

Otti, however, reiterated his support for some of the Federal Government’s economic policies, including the removal of fuel subsidy, stressing that his position on the matter predates his election as governor.

“Am I against the president running for a second term? Absolutely no. It’s the masses of the people that would determine,” he said.

“He has the right to run for a second term. And others who also want to run have a right to run. At the end of the day, it’s the ballot box, you and I, that will determine what happens.”

The Labour Party governor added that his party would support its own presidential candidate in the next election but would not prevent other politicians from exercising their constitutional right to contest.

“My party is Labour Party and it has its own presidential and vice presidential candidate. To the extent that we have candidates, we will support them. But that doesn’t mean we would go and pick quarrel with everybody,” he said.

Otti has on several occasions expressed support for Tinubu’s economic reforms, describing them as “courageous”.

Three South-East governors — Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi, Hope Uzodimma of Imo and Peter Mbah of Enugu — are members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Otti belongs to the Labour Party, while Anambra State Governor Chukwuma Soludo recently secured a second term on the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

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