Otti: I Blocked ‘Criminals’ from Infiltrating my Govt, Forbid any Deals with Them

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has stated that he has successfully prevented “criminals” from getting appointments in his government in order to keep the integrity of his administration intact.

He also vowed he would never negotiate with the ruinous politicians that plundered Abia and set the state backwards for several years.

A government house press release issued Monday by the chief press secretary to the Abia Governor, Ukoha Njoku Ukoha, said that Otti spoke about his battle with “the criminals” during two separate church services he attended on Sunday.

He worshipped with the congregations at the Master’s Vessel Church, Umuahia North and the Power World Ministry International, Umuahia South.

Otti said that after destroying Abia, the same people that wreaked the havoc started lobbying and seeking attention in order to be brought into his government.

However, he declared that after he has shut the door against the undesirable elements, they resorted to blackmail and false information against his administration so he could invite them for negotiations.

“Ours is a government that has integrity; we will never negotiate with criminals,” Otti declared with an air of finality.

After dethroning the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Otti who had won the poll on the platform of the Labour Party, has been enduring a rash of blistering criticisms from his opponents.

He chose to use the platform of the churches to launch counter attack on his opponents, saying that “some of them have resorted to attacks in the media”.

According to him, the same people attacking had “started by applying” for political appointments, telling him that “you need us to run a government,(but) we politely declined (as) darkness and daylight have no meeting points”.

“And the next thing they do is to start attacking you thinking you would call them for negotiations”.

The Abia State governor absolved his government of all the charges of wrongdoings by the opposition, insisting that “we are not doing anything wrong”.

However, referencing the portion of the Bible that says, “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach” Otti said that he does not claim to be righteous, only that his administration would not purposely engage in wrongdoing.

He said: “We will not deliberately do the wrong thing. You may hear some people making noise left, right, and center; it is because they are used to things being done in the wrong way, and we have come to say no”.

“So, if you bring something that is wrong to us, we are not afraid to say no”.

Otti told the cheering congregations that he has come to restore the dignity of Abians, who are hard-working people and only need “enabling environment” to soar high.

He promised that “after the restoration of our infrastructure, the next thing is restoring the dignity of Abians” so they could hold their heads high and excel in their chosen professions.

The Abia chief executive explained that if basic amenities such as roads with good drainages, clean environment, power, good education, good healthcare system are made available, people would fend for themselves without disturbing government.

He assured the church worshippers that his administration was already working hard to restore that culture of hard work and contentment among Abia people by creating the enabling environment for them to attain  their life goals.