Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has issued a strong warning to individuals or political groups allegedly plotting to manipulate the outcome of the 2027 elections in the state. Speaking during a media interactive session in Umuahia on Thursday night, the governor cautioned that anyone planning to rig the polls should reconsider their intentions or be ready to “write their will” beforehand. He declared that the people of Abia would no longer tolerate any attempt to undermine their collective mandate, insisting that the era of electoral fraud in the state was over.
Otti, who came to power on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), said his administration remains committed to protecting the integrity of the ballot. “I have heard that some people are boasting that they will take over Abia and write results,” he remarked. “My advice to them is simple — if they plan to write results, they should write something else first — their will. This is our state, and no one will impose their will on us again.”
Responding to questions about his strained relationship with the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, the governor said he had chosen to forgive Kalu despite his public criticisms. Kalu had recently accused the Otti administration of poor performance and claimed that Abia State receives between ₦38 billion and ₦40 billion monthly in federal allocations — a claim Otti described as “false and politically motivated.”
Otti said although Kalu is “like a younger brother,” the lawmaker has repeatedly made unfounded statements about the state government. “This is the second time he has attacked my administration publicly. I have decided to forgive him, but he needs to overcome what I call hubris and information deficiency — the combination of arrogance and ignorance,” Otti stated pointedly.
The governor also took a swipe at Kalu’s self-acclaimed ranking as “number six” in Nigeria’s political hierarchy. He clarified that under the Protocol Act of 2000, the Deputy Senate President — not the Deputy Speaker — occupies that position, adding humorously, “Maybe the law has changed, and I wasn’t informed.”
Dismissing the claim that the All Progressives Congress (APC) would take over Abia in 2027, Otti said he was not in any way threatened. He suggested that Kalu’s comments were born out of jealousy following the overwhelming support the state government received during President Bola Tinubu’s recent visit to Aba, where the president commissioned several completed projects. “He should wait for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to officially lift the campaign ban before declaring political ambitions,” Otti cautioned.
He also urged Kalu to desist from comments that could discredit his own party in Abia, advising the APC leadership to be wary of internal voices that were “de-marketing” the party’s image in the state. Otti encouraged residents to remain peaceful, emphasizing that his administration had worked tirelessly to maintain stability and harmony in Abia for nearly two years.
On the state’s finances, the governor clarified misconceptions surrounding Abia’s revenue profile. He acknowledged that while the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) has increased significantly since he assumed office, its real value has been diminished by inflation and the naira’s depreciation. “If our IGR was ₦100 in 2022 and now ₦300 in 2025, it appears higher. But in real terms, with the naira moving from ₦400 to ₦1,500 per dollar, the purchasing power has dropped drastically,” he explained.
Otti also disclosed that he granted a six-month tax holiday at the start of his tenure to allow citizens and businesses to recover from years of infrastructural decay before introducing new tax demands. “We couldn’t demand taxes when people were struggling to access their shops through bad roads. Now that we’ve rehabilitated infrastructure and created a friendlier business environment, taxation has become reasonable — though we are still not aggressive about it,” he said.
The governor further revealed that many residents have voluntarily contributed to the state’s developmental initiatives, a gesture he described as evidence of growing public confidence in his leadership. He reaffirmed his administration’s focus on transparency, economic revitalization, and defending the democratic will of Abians ahead of the 2027 elections.