Abia State Governor Alex Otti, a Nigerian economist and politician elected under the Labour Party (LP), has said he will not leave the party even though Peter Obi, former Governor of Anambra State and the LP presidential candidate in Nigeria’s 2023 general election, has informed him of plans to exit the party.
Otti made this known on Tuesday, 31 December 2025, during his monthly media briefing held in Umuahia, the capital city of Abia State in south-eastern Nigeria.
According to the governor, Obi personally told him about his intention to leave the Labour Party, and he did not oppose the decision. However, Otti stressed that his own political future remains with the party for now.
He explained that his membership of the Labour Party predates Obi’s entry, noting that he did not join the party because of the former presidential candidate. Otti said the Labour Party was the platform that brought him into office and that he feels a responsibility to help stabilise and reform it.
The governor stated that while Obi has chosen a different political path, he intends to continue working with others to strengthen the party. He added that discussions about alternative political options would only come up if efforts to reposition the Labour Party fail.
Otti also reacted to public calls by Benjamin Kalu, Nigeria’s Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and a senior figure in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), urging him to defect to the APC. He said he would not allow such comments to distract him from his responsibilities as governor.
He acknowledged Kalu’s recent charitable outreach to vulnerable people during the festive period, saying it aligned with his earlier call for well-to-do Nigerians to support the less privileged. Beyond that, Otti said he had chosen not to engage further with Kalu’s political remarks.
To explain his position, the governor referenced a famous quote by Winston Churchill, a former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom who served during World War II, about staying focused and not being drawn into unnecessary disputes.
Peter Obi is currently associated with a coalition linked to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a Nigerian opposition party. He has recently raised concerns about unresolved zoning arrangements within the coalition as political alignments begin ahead of Nigeria’s 2027 general elections.
Despite Obi’s move, Otti maintained that his priority remains governance and internal party reform, insisting that he is not considering defection at this time.