Otti alleges pressure to withdraw petition

CANDIDATE of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the last gubernatorial election in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has said he is under tremendous pressure to withdraw the petition he filed challenging the declaration of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) opponent and declared winner of the polls, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu.

He described his claim to victory at the said election as a non-negotiable and that only the state electorate “have the right to withdraw a mandate freely given” to him.

In a statement titled “My governorship Mandate Is Non-Negotiable”, Otti described the rumor that he was holding secret talks with his opponent’s emissaries for a possible withdrawal of the petition and dump his mandate as untrue.

“The rumour is baseless, blatant falsehood and the wishful thinking of idle political jobbers and rumour peddlers in their deliberate attempt to cause mischief and deceive unsuspecting members of the public.

“To negotiate away the mandate from Abia people, who trooped out in their numbers and voted for me because of their conviction and belief in my ability to bring about the desired change, will amount to a betrayal of the people’s trust.

“I have advised the emissaries to first of all go and negotiate with all the Abia sons and daughters that voted for me and if they succeed in persuading them to denounce the mandate they gave to me, then they can return to me for negotiation”.

He assured the electorate that he had the capacity to claim and exercise the mandate given him and urged them not to despair, saying “although weeping may endure for the night, joy cometh in the morning.”

According to Otti, who until he joined the governorship contest was the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Diamond Bank, different emissaries from his opponents had continued to approach him for a truce but insisted that no amount of persuasion would make him to relinquish the mandate.