Supporters of Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, prompted mockery and criticism with claims that the ongoing construction of drainages in parts of the state constitutes evidence of his superior style of leadership.
The dispute began when one of them published photos of an incomplete drainage construction work in an unknown part of the state with boastful claims that its “quality and thickness” is proof that “Alex means business.”
He also threw jabs at residents of Anambra State with a statement that “Ndi Anambra cry me a river. Una wanted a professor, una got a professor and he’s professoring una well. Anambra Dubia-Taiwan in the mud.”
Look at the quality and thickness of this drainage system..
Alex Otti means business..
Ndi Anambra cry me a river….
Una wanted a professor….Una got a professor and he's professoring una well.
ANAMBRA DUBAI-TAIWAN in the mud. pic.twitter.com/OZ1SdYlIxP
— Onwa_Nnewi (@Kene_Nnewi) July 20, 2023
His negative reference to Anambra state and insinuation that the choice of Professor Chukwuma Soludo as the state governor was a poor decision is likely due to the ongoing rivalry between APGA, the ruling party in Anambra and the traditional political home of eastern politicians, and the Labour Party.
Obi’s late-hour defection to the Labour Party in the last presidential election and his largely Igbo-focused campaign, according to several analysts, have worked to supplant APGA in several parts of the eastern region, including Abia State where Alex Otti, having previously contested on other platforms, was able to finally win the governorship election as the LP candidate owing to what was described as the ‘Obi Eastern Wave’.
Governor Soludo famously stood against the emergence of Obi as president with an open letter in which he described his run as an exercise in futility that could result in the further exclusion of the region from power. He also disputed Obi’s claims of success as governor of Anambra, citing inside information he sits on as the incumbent.
In the local assembly election that followed the presidential contest, Soludo rallied his base in Anambra to secure a decisive majority for APGA despite threats by ‘Obidients’ in the state to punish him for his public criticism of Obi by electing LP members.
Otti was the only governor elected on the Labour Party platform and his administration is widely considered as a test of the view that the party is a true harbinger of a ‘new Nigeria’. However, months after his election, he has failed to inspire and is presently enmeshed in various controversies over state affairs management.
The celebration of a “thick” gutter concrete as a sign of good leadership by his supporters is perceived as an act of desperation by those who reportedly oversold his competence and the significance of his emergence on the LP platform, after trying and failing on other party platforms.
It also strengthens the criticism of others whose view of Alex Otti is that of a run-of-the-mill politician who merely took advantage of ethnic-based support for the Labour Party and rode on the coattails of Obi to power.