Governor Alex Otti did something few have done before in Nigerian politics. He defeated his own party, and harrumphed with gloating after the triumph. If for nothing, it shows who commands the politics of Abia State today.
He showed to all that it was not the Labour Party that won the election for him when he swept his way to the governor’s house of the state.
He has been doing the work for a long time. He has written, he has mobilized, he has stayed home to tap into the roots. He fought and fell and rose up again. He has abided by the Ballad of Sir Andrews: “I am struck and wounded, I lay me down and rest awhile, and I’ll rise and fight again.” He rose after falling and he is the patriarch of Abia politics today.
Abia has always followed its own path in the politics of the southeast. It was PPA when PDP was the mainstay of the east. Now, they may say it is LP but it is LP because it is Alex Otti. It is not Alex Otti because it is LP. He is one man who has commanded his troops.
It is not Peter Obi, who helped him. It is because of him that Peter Obi can say his movement has a state. Obi should thank Alex for that. Or else, it is no shishi for him. Abia is the doing of one man’s genius, and that man is Alex Otti.
By Sam Omatseye @The Nation
