‘I’m backing Tinubu, endorsing Otti for second term’

Senator Emma Nwaka, a chieftain of Nigeria's All Progressives Congress (APC), has publicly endorsed Governor Alex Otti of Abia State for a second term. Nwaka, a former state chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party and founding member, who later joined the APC, made the declaration during a visit to Governor Otti. He also confirmed his commitment to President Bola Tinubu's re-election bid at the federal level.

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I am working for the re-election of President Bola Tinubu for a second term in office at the federal level.

Nwaka expressed his belief that President Tinubu deserves a second term, citing the president's efforts to revitalize Nigeria's economy. He argued that Tinubu has infused renewed hope into governance, and his economic reforms will soon yield positive results for Nigerians. Despite being a committed APC member, Nwaka stated that Governor Otti's performance in Abia has surpassed that of previous governors, ushering in an era of unprecedented infrastructural development and restoring pride among the state's residents.

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Any person conversant with the almost comatose state of the economy of Nigeria and the inertia that characterised governance prior to his assumption of office will agree that the President deserves a second term, if for nothing else, for having infused life and renewed hope into every ramification of governance.

The endorsement, however, presents a complex political dynamic. Nwaka acknowledged that his stance might displease some within his own party, the APC, which traditionally expects the governorship to remain in the Abia Central Senatorial District. He is supporting Otti, who is from Abia Central, for a second term. Nwaka invoked the Abia Charter of Equity, a foundational agreement among the state's senatorial districts, suggesting that power should eventually rotate to Abia North, specifically the Isuikwuato/Umunneochi area. Denying Otti a second term and electing someone else from Abia Central would delay this rotation, potentially for another 12 years, which he believes contravenes the spirit of the charter.

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By every political metric conceivable, his first term has ushered in a season of unprecedented infrastructural development in every corner of the State. Under him, Abians all over the state, country, and beyond have regained a sense of pride in their state.