Abia opposition chasing shadows – Otti’s aide

An aide to Governor Alex Otti of Abia, Rev. Fr. Christian Anokwuru, has said the opposition plotting to unseat the governor in 2027 is merely chasing shadows.

Anokwuru, who is Special Adviser to the Governor on Policies and Interventions, said this during a news briefing in Umuahia, the state capital.

He was reacting to the spate of criticisms and media attacks against the governor by the leading opposition chieftains in the state, including former Governor Orji Kalu of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He entitled his speech, “Abia Opposition: Stop Tinubu Name-Dropping and Face the Fact!”

He said it was absurd for the old political leaders that allegedly ruined and underdeveloped the state to think they would return to power, riding on President Bola Tinubu’s might.

He mocked them for dropping the president’s name and banking on his achievements, rather than citing the legacies they left behind during their time as governors.

He said: “It is a long-established principle in both law and public life that anyone who demands equity must come with clean hands.

“This principle is particularly relevant in the current political climate in Abia state.

“When former executive governors and past political office holders, whose administrations are still fresh in the collective memory of the people, congregate to challenge the present administration of Alex Otti, the public is entitled to interrogate not just their claims, but also their credibility.”

He contended everything about opposition’s supposed criticism against Otti’s administration was rested on “Renewed Hope”.

“It is expected that an opposition made up of past governors and political office holders should build their argument against a sitting government based on their own achievements in the past, rather than relying on name-dropping of President Tinubu and Renewed Hope,” he said.

Anokwuru also said that opposition is essential in a democracy, when it is credible and constructive rather than destructive and deceptive.

“It serves as a check on power, sharpens governance, and protects public interest.

“However, opposition loses its moral force when it is driven by selfishness and bitterness rather than facts, and by personal resentment rather than policy-based critique,” he said.

He frowned at the recent posture by the Abia opposition, saying it “appears less like constructive engagement and more like a coalition motivated by animosity and political survival and relevance.

“More concerning is the heavy reliance on the perceived might of President Tinubu as the backbone of the opposition.

“Opposition politics should be built on ideas, track records, and alternative visions, not on borrowed federal influence.

“When individuals, who should speak from the strength of their own achievements, instead lean on external executive power, it signals an absence of substance.

“Federal proximity cannot substitute for local legitimacy, nor can it erase the lived experiences of the people under previous administrations,” he said.

Anokwuru expressed delight that the president reckoned with the governor as “one of the best performing governors in Nigeria, if not the best” and had continued to support him rather than endorse the propaganda by the opposition.

He said that Abia deserved “an opposition that is intellectually honest, fact driven and rooted in the welfare of the people.

“Anything short of that is not opposition in the true sense, but a reactionary alliance struggling to remain relevant in the face of changing political realities,” Anokwuru said.

He argued that constructive opposition points out gaps, proposes solutions, and holds leadership accountable in a manner that ultimately benefits the state and not to undermine the government for its own sake.

“When opposition shifts from principled criticism to deliberate misinformation, it ceases to be a democratic asset and becomes a personal vendetta. (NAN)

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