AN APPEAL FOR CONTINUITY: LET GOVERNOR ALEX OTTI COMPLETE THE WORK
By AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
Public Researcher, Public Analyst and Abia Good Governance Advocate
I have carefully read the publication carried by Eastern Truth, an online news platform published by EYW Media & Business Essentials, under the title, “Endorsement of Governor Alex Otti for Second Term by NNAUSA Is a Personal Agenda, Not That of Entire Ngwaland.” The report was published on September 8, 2026, under the authorship/publication profile of John Nwaigwe, and reproduced a press release signed by Mr. Chukwuemeka Obinna, Convener, Coalition of Concerned and Patriotic Ngwa Citizens (CCPNC), and Engr. Joe Nkoro, Secretary, CCPNC.
I respect the right of every Abian, every Ngwa son and daughter, every organisation and every political tendency to interrogate government, disagree with its policies and demand more from those entrusted with public office. Indeed, democracy becomes meaningless when citizens are denied the freedom to question those who govern them.
But criticism must also leave room for acknowledgement of progress.
My intervention is therefore not an attempt to silence anybody. It is an appeal to our collective conscience as Abians.
Politics is good when it promotes the development of institutions. Politics is useful when competition produces better roads, stronger schools, improved healthcare, transparent public finance, cleaner cities, functioning institutions and greater confidence in government.
That, ultimately, should be the purpose of politics.
Governor Alex C. Otti has been in office for just over three years. Whatever our political affiliations may be, it is difficult to argue that Abia State has remained exactly where it was before May 2023. Across important areas of public administration, infrastructure, urban renewal, healthcare, education, public accountability and the restoration of confidence in government, visible changes have occurred.
Certainly, much remains to be done.
There are rural roads that still require attention. There are communities asking for greater government presence. There are schools, health facilities, water systems and local economic infrastructure requiring further investment. No serious supporter of good governance should pretend otherwise.
But the existence of unfinished work is not evidence that nothing has been done.
Development itself is a process.
Institutions that deteriorated over decades cannot be completely rebuilt within three years. Roads abandoned for years cannot all be reconstructed simultaneously. Public schools, hospitals, local government infrastructure, sanitation systems and administrative institutions require sustained investment over time.
What matters is whether a government has established a credible direction and whether measurable progress is being made.
From my assessment as a public researcher and public analyst, Governor Otti has established such a direction.
This is why I am personally appealing for patience, fairness and continuity.
Let us conscientize ourselves that elections should not always become an invitation to destroy whatever has started working simply because another electoral cycle has arrived. Where government is performing, citizens should possess the maturity to encourage performance while continuing to demand improvement.
Supporting continuity does not mean surrendering our right to criticise.
We can support Governor Otti and still tell him that particular rural roads must be constructed.
We can support him and demand faster improvements in our villages.
We can support him while insisting that development reaches every senatorial district, every local government and every community.
That is what constructive democratic citizenship should look like.
I therefore make this appeal personally:
Let Governor Alex Otti complete the good works he has started.
Abia has spent too many years starting again.
Government comes, government goes, policies disappear, projects are abandoned and institutions begin another cycle of reconstruction. No society develops sustainably under perpetual policy discontinuity.
A second term provides an administration that has established a development programme the opportunity to consolidate reforms, complete major infrastructure, deepen institutional changes and extend development into areas that may not yet have felt sufficient impact.
And there is another important point we must remember:
2031 is another opportunity.
Our democracy does not end in 2027.
Those with alternative visions for Abia will still have the opportunity to present those visions. Leaders will emerge. Political alignments will change. New candidates will come forward. The people will again exercise their sovereign right to decide.
Therefore, supporting the completion of an ongoing developmental programme today does not extinguish anybody’s political future tomorrow.
We must gradually develop a political culture in Abia in which governance is judged less by political camps and more by measurable institutional outcomes.
Let us compete over who can build better schools.
Let us compete over who can construct better roads.
Let us compete over healthcare.
Let us compete over jobs, investment, sanitation, rural development, digital infrastructure and public accountability.
Let politicians quarrel about politics, but let Abia win.
My appeal is simple.
Where Governor Otti has performed, let us acknowledge it.
Where more needs to be done, let us demand it.
Where communities feel left behind, let government listen and respond.
But having witnessed the direction Abia has taken within these three years, I believe continuity offers the State a valuable opportunity to consolidate the institutional and developmental progress already underway.
This is bigger than Alex Otti.
It is about whether Abia can finally build institutions strong enough to survive individual politicians.
It is about whether our politics can become an instrument of development rather than perpetual destruction.
It is about whether, for once, we can allow a government that has demonstrated substantial commitment to rebuilding the State enough time to complete what it has started.
My fellow Abians, let the work continue.
2027 offers us continuity.
2031 offers us another opportunity to choose again.
But today, Abia must come first.
AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
Public Researcher
Public Analyst
Abia Good Governance Advocate
