By NewsCritic Reporters
Abia State Governor Dr Alex Otti has moved to hedge against the risk of losing the support of the former Mayors and their deputies, after they were barred from contesting during the November 2nd, 2024 Local Government Area, LGA, polls by the Governor. Reason: That they failed to satisfy a critical constitutional requirement in their bid to transmute to democratically elected Chairmen of the councils, which stipulates that they must resign their offices 30 days before the election.
Following the failure of Gov Otti to allow the former Mayors to return as elected Chairmen despite reports alluding to an earlier agreement he had with the Transition Committee Chairmen, dubbed billionaire mayors to continue in office as elected chairmen, there were ill feelings leading to the speculation that the 17 former Mayors had finalized plans to decamp to the All Progressives Congress, APC, in a bid to spite Gov Otti.
Competent sources disclosed that the former mayors vowed to pay Gov Otti back in his own coin for using and dumping them with ignominy. The aggrieved out gone mayors who saw Otti’s action in removing them from office as a deliberate act to embarrass and humiliate them, were said to have opted to team up with the opposition and Otti’s political enemies to stop his 2027 re-election wish.
In view of the rising political temperature of the Abia ecosystem occasioned by growing discontent with Otti’s leadership style, pundits are baiting on the possibility of Otti emerging as a one-term Governor, even though Otti’s followers are want to dismiss this assertion with a wave of hand.
His current relationship with the Labour Party, LP, that propelled him into political leadership has not helped matters. In fact, their relationship has broken down irretrievably so much that the Governor promoted another political party the Zenith Labour Party, ZLP, and used the platform to deliver his anointed candidates in the just concluded LGA polls. His membership of Labour Party is now complicated.
Sources disclosed that in a bid to guard against the idea of creating too many political enemies for himself, Gov Otti decided to compensate the former mayors, their deputies and councillors with good severance package which was least expected, to win back their support and loyalty. Recall that earlier, during a dinner with the former and incumbent Chairmen and their deputies at Banquet Hall Government House Umuahia, last month, Otti promised to accommodate a greater number of them in his government, while praising their achievements while in office.
Sources close to the former mayors and their deputies informed NewsCritic online that the Governor has paid the out-gone mayors N10m (Ten Million Naira), their deputies N5m and the councillors N1m as severance pay. Some of the beneficiaries expressed surprised that Otti could pay them without much delay in spite of his unfavourable disposition to such expenditure. They cited the fact that he could not provide any official vehicle to the former appointees, unlike what was obtainable in the past.
The money this reporter was informed started hitting the account of the beneficiaries on Friday 29th November and Saturday 30th November, 2024, though some said they had expected more money from him given the present political climate, and the fact that he treated them with scorn after using them.
