Abia State Governor Alex Otti has publicly distanced himself from remarks by Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, who claimed last Wednesday that all five south-east governors had reached a consensus to back President Bola Tinubu's re-election bid.
Otti Rejects Uzodimma's Claim of Unified Endorsement
Otti made his position clear on Thursday, July 23, during his monthly media briefing held in Umuahia, saying Uzodimma was free to speak for himself but had no authority to speak for every governor in the region.
Uzodimma's comments came during a meeting with the Imo State elders council and traditional rulers in Owerri on Wednesday, July 22, where he described Tinubu as having shown "unprecedented commitment" to developing the south-east through his Renewed Hope Agenda. He presented the support for the president's second term as a shared position among the region's five governors.
Otti's Rebuttal: No Collective Position
Responding directly to those claims, Otti acknowledged that Uzodimma had every right to voice his own views as governor, but insisted that right did not extend to speaking on behalf of his colleagues across the region.
The Labour Party (LP) governor did not entirely distance himself from the federal government, however. He reiterated his long-standing approval of certain economic decisions taken by the Tinubu administration, particularly the removal of the petrol subsidy, noting that his support for such policies existed even before he was elected governor. He has previously described those policies as "courageous."
Labour Party's Own Path for 2027
On the question of the 2027 elections, Otti was direct: the Labour Party would back its own presidential candidate and would not be taking positions on behalf of other parties. He added that his party would not stand in the way of anyone exercising their constitutional right to contest.
A Region Divided by Party Lines
The political reality in the south-east complicates any claim of a unified position. Of the five governors, only three belong to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC): Francis Nwifuru of Ebonyi, Uzodimma of Imo, and Peter Mbah of Enugu. Otti governs Abia under the Labour Party banner, while Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra recently won a second term on the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) platform.
Given this spread across three separate parties, Otti's pushback signals that any south-east endorsement of Tinubu's second term bid cannot be treated as a bloc decision without the explicit agreement of each governor.
