Video: Tinubu’s reforms resonate with me, I’m not in position to oppose him— Governor Otti
Abdullateef Fowewe
Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has made clear that he is not in a position to oppose President Bola Tinubu’s potential re-election bid in 2027, while praising several of the President’s economic reforms as aligning with his own thinking.
In an interview with ARISE News on Friday, the Labour Party governor pushed back against suggestions that he should take a hard opposition stance.
“I’m not in a position to oppose his (Tinubu’s) candidacy,” Otti said.
“Sometimes people don’t understand opposition. When you say you’re opposition, and you are part of a government, then what you are driving towards is implosion.”
He explained that as a sitting governor and member of the National Economic Council, he participates in federal decision-making and prefers to raise any concerns internally rather than publicly campaign against the President.
“So if I do have a problem with anything, I’ll sit down in one of our meetings, and I make my point. I’m not going to oppose his candidacy,” he said.
Otti went further, noting that key Tinubu policies resonate with him.
“Quite frankly, there are a lot of things that we have talked about now that he (Tinubu) has implemented that resonate with me and my thinking from where I sit, I know that, for instance, the fuel subsidy was even unsustainable,” he added.
The governor also affirmed Tinubu’s right to seek another term, “He has the right to run, and nobody can stop him from running.”
While clarifying that he has his own preferred presidential candidate under the Labour Party for 2027 and will support that candidate, Otti’s comments mark a notable distancing from pure opposition politics. He has previously made clear he will not follow former Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi out of the party, choosing instead to remain and help rebuild it after Obi’s departure.
