ABIA APC’S COMEDY OF CONTRADICTIONS: WHEN OTTI WORKS WITH TINUBU, THEY CRY; WHEN HE REMAINS IN LABOUR PARTY, THEY CRY AGAIN
There is something increasingly comical about the politics of the Abia State chapter of the All Progressives Congress.
When Governor Alex Otti collaborates with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Federal Government to attract projects to Abia, they accuse him of trying to take credit for President Tinubu’s achievements.
When he publicly acknowledges the Federal Government, they complain that he has not gone far enough.
When he maintains his membership of the Labour Party, they accuse him of political deception.
Now they want him to declare support for President Tinubu’s re-election—as though the constitutional duty of a state governor is to abandon his political party and become the campaign director of his opponents.
Loads of laughter! 😂😂😂
What exactly does Abia APC want?
Do they want a productive federal–state relationship, or do they want Governor Otti to surrender Abia’s political independence to a local APC structure that has repeatedly failed to convince the electorate?
The evidence demonstrates that the relationship between Governor Alex Otti and President Bola Tinubu is not based on noisy partisan slogans. It is a working relationship built around projects, security, infrastructure and economic development.
That is what mature governance looks like.
A RELATIONSHIP BUILT ON GOVERNANCE, NOT PARTY UNIFORMS
Governor Otti belongs to the Labour Party. President Tinubu belongs to the APC. That difference is neither a crime nor a constitutional emergency.
Nigeria is a federation. Governors are expected to work with the President, regardless of party affiliation, whenever the interests of their people require it.
The President does not need Governor Otti to wear an APC cap before approving federal cooperation with Abia. Equally, Governor Otti does not need to become an APC praise singer before acknowledging constructive federal interventions.
Their relationship can therefore be described as cooperative federalism: two elected leaders working together where their responsibilities intersect while retaining their separate political identities.
The clearest evidence is found in the projects and engagements that have taken place since both men assumed office in May 2023.
- DECEMBER 2023: OTTI MET PRESIDENT TINUBU AT THE PRESIDENTIAL VILLA
Governor Otti met President Tinubu at the State House on December 24, 2023. The meeting demonstrated that the Abia governor had direct access to the President and was willing to engage the Federal Government on matters affecting the state.
This was not a clandestine meeting in a dark room. It was a publicly documented engagement between a President and a governor.
Yet some elements within Abia APC have behaved as though every handshake between Tinubu and Otti represents an invasion of their ancestral political farmland.
One must ask: when did access to the President become the private property of unsuccessful local party officials? - FEBRUARY 2024: THE TINUBU ADMINISTRATION COMMISSIONED GEOMETRIC POWER IN ABA
On February 26, 2024, President Tinubu’s administration participated in the commissioning of the Geometric Integrated Power project in Aba.
The Federal Ministry of Information described it as Nigeria’s first autonomous power plant, with an initial capacity of 141 megawatts and the potential to expand to 188 megawatts. The project was designed to supply electricity within the Aba ring-fenced area.
Governor Otti hosted the federal delegation and publicly recognised the importance of the project to Aba’s industrial economy.
That is how serious leaders behave. They do not reject electricity because the President belongs to another party. They do not switch off development because local politicians are afraid of cooperation.
While Otti and the Federal Government were discussing power, production and industrial growth, some local opposition figures appeared more interested in calculating who received the louder applause.
An industrial city is getting electricity, but political jobbers are counting handshakes. Wonderful economics! 😂 - DECEMBER 2024: FEDERAL AIRSTRIP BECAME A JOINT AIRPORT PROJECT
The proposed Abia airstrip provides perhaps the strongest evidence of practical cooperation.
The Federal Government initially proposed an airstrip. Governor Otti’s administration sought an upgrade to a full airport, offering state support and counterpart responsibilities. In December 2024, the project was upgraded to an international cargo airport initiative, with the Abia Government publicly committing itself to the partnership.
This is not merely a ceremonial project. A viable cargo airport could support Aba’s manufacturing clusters, agricultural exports, logistics, investment and regional connectivity.
By June 2026, members of the Renewed Hope Presidential Media Team visiting Abia specifically cited the airport as evidence of effective collaboration between the Federal and Abia State governments.
So, while Abia APC’s publicity machinery was manufacturing stories of a supposed political cold war, President Tinubu’s own media team was publicly commending the federal–state partnership.
Who should Nigerians believe—the people inspecting the joint project or the local megaphone permanently searching for a quarrel? - FEDERAL ROADS: OTTI SECURED APPROVAL TO INTERVENE
The Otti administration has also obtained federal approval to intervene in distressed federal infrastructure.
One major example is the Umuahia–Ikot Ekpene Road. The road had suffered years of deterioration and incomplete federal intervention. In October 2025, Governor Otti flagged off the rehabilitation of sections of the road after securing the necessary approval from the Federal Government.
At the ceremony, speakers acknowledged that federal approval allowed the state to proceed and described the arrangement as evidence that development should rise above party affiliation.
By March 2026, federal and state officials were discussing collaboration to complete the road, rather than fighting over political ownership.
This is the difference between project politics and press-release politics.
Governor Otti is interested in whether the road is motorable.
Abia APC appears consumed by whose photograph should be printed larger on the signboard. - DAVE UMAHI PUBLICLY PRAISED OTTI’S ROAD WORK
In June 2025, the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi—an APC minister serving under President Tinubu—publicly praised Governor Otti’s infrastructure performance and expressed pride in what the governor was doing for Abia.
Umahi particularly commended Otti for reconstructing federal roads and delivering quality projects.
Let us pause here.
An APC federal minister inspected Otti’s work and offered commendation.
But some Abia APC officials, apparently more APC than the APC Minister of Works, want the public to believe that cooperation between Otti and the Federal Government is either fraudulent or politically suspicious.
Perhaps Senator Umahi forgot to obtain permission from the Abia APC publicity office before acknowledging what his eyes saw.
Loads of laughter! 😂😂 - OCTOBER 2025: FEDERAL LAWMAKERS WARNED AGAINST DISRUPTING THE RELATIONSHIP
In October 2025, federal lawmakers publicly warned against attempts to disrupt Governor Otti’s relationship with President Tinubu.
They referred to projects facilitated or executed through federal–state engagement, including Port Harcourt Road, the Ohafia–Arochukwu corridor, Omenuko Bridge and the Umuahia–Ikot Ekpene Road.
Around the same period, the Abia Government alleged that opposition politicians were spreading misinformation calculated to create distrust between Otti and the President. The government pointed to federal approvals for the state’s intervention in infrastructure and the airport partnership as evidence that collaboration remained intact.
Whether one accepts every political statement made by the government or not, the underlying projects are verifiable.
Airports cannot be built with imaginary approvals.
Federal roads cannot lawfully be reconstructed by a state without federal engagement.
Presidential media teams do not commend nonexistent partnerships. - DECEMBER 2025: OTTI AGAIN VISITED PRESIDENT TINUBU
Governor Otti again visited President Tinubu at the Presidential Villa on December 2, 2025.
Reports linked the engagement partly to wider security and national questions, including Otti’s interest in issues surrounding Nnamdi Kanu.
The importance of this engagement should not be underestimated.
A people-oriented governor does not allow partisan boundaries to prevent him from taking regional security, justice and development concerns to the highest federal authority.
That is representation.
It is not betrayal of the Labour Party, and it is not membership of the APC. It is the performance of constitutional duty. - PRESIDENT TINUBU HIMSELF RECOGNISED OTTI’S PUBLIC AND PROFESSIONAL STANDING
On February 18, 2025, President Tinubu issued an official message celebrating Governor Otti’s 60th birthday.
The President described him as an economist, banker, politician and respected leader who had led thriving institutions.
That statement did not portray Otti as an enemy of the Federal Government.
It did not accuse him of sabotaging the President.
It did not demand that he abandon the Labour Party before being treated as the elected governor of Abia.
The artificial hostility largely exists in the imagination of local politicians who seem terrified that a cordial Otti–Tinubu relationship deprives them of their favourite campaign material.
THE HISTORY OF ATTEMPTS TO POLLUTE THE RELATIONSHIP
The anti-Otti strategy has passed through several contradictory stages.
Stage One: Portray Otti as an Enemy of the Federal Government
Opposition voices repeatedly attempted to present Governor Otti as hostile to President Tinubu or as secretly working to undermine the Federal Government.
When the projects and presidential engagements made that narrative difficult to sustain, the strategy changed.
Stage Two: Accuse Otti of Taking Credit for Federal Projects
In March 2026, Abia APC accused the state government of failing to give President Tinubu sufficient credit for federal infrastructure projects.
This allegation itself revealed the weakness of the earlier narrative.
A governor supposedly hostile to the Federal Government was suddenly being accused of standing too close to federal projects.
Which one is it?
Is Otti avoiding Tinubu, or is he taking photographs with Tinubu’s projects?
A propaganda machine should at least hold one story long enough for the ink to dry.
Stage Three: Manufacture Claims of a Rift
By January and February 2026, the Abia Government was publicly rebutting claims and publications that allegedly sought to portray Otti as being in conflict with the Federal Government.
One report concerned a fabricated allegation that Otti had taken the Federal Government before an international court over supposed mistreatment of Igbo people. The state rejected the claim as false and inflammatory.
The objective appeared obvious: create a sensational anti-federal quotation, attach Otti’s name to it and hope that anger in Abuja would replace scrutiny in Abia.
But governance is not conducted through fabricated social-media quotations.
Stage Four: Accuse Otti of Trying to Destabilise APC
In May 2026, Uche Aguoru alleged that an unnamed businessman connected to Otti paid ₦5 billion to unnamed persons at APC headquarters to destabilise the party.
Governor Otti denied the allegation and threatened legal action unless it was withdrawn. The allegation, as reported, was not accompanied by publicly identified recipients, transaction records or independently verified evidence.
An unnamed businessman allegedly paying unnamed individuals through an unnamed arrangement!
Even a badly written Nollywood script would demand the name of at least one character.
Loads of laughter! 😂😂😂
Stage Five: Demand That Otti Campaign for Tinubu
Having failed to prove that Otti is fighting Tinubu, Abia APC has now adopted an even stranger argument: Governor Otti must publicly declare support for President Tinubu’s 2027 re-election.
According to the June 19, 2026 statement, Otti is accused of maintaining cordial relations with the Federal Government while retaining the support of the Obidient movement and remaining within the Labour Party.
But where exactly is the deceit?
Otti has not hidden his Labour Party membership.
He has not claimed to be the chairman of APC.
He has not stated that cooperation with President Tinubu automatically means endorsing every APC electoral candidate.
The governor is entitled to cooperate institutionally with the President while making his electoral decisions at the constitutionally appropriate time.
That is not deception. It is political and constitutional normalcy.
THE QUESTION ABIA APC DOES NOT WANT TO ANSWER
Why is Abia APC so desperate for Governor Otti to endorse President Tinubu?
Is it because it lacks the confidence to sell the President’s record to Abia voters without borrowing Otti’s credibility?
A serious political party should persuade the electorate through its programmes, candidates, organisation and record.
It should not issue weekly demands that the governor of an opposition party must campaign for it.
If Abia APC genuinely believes that it possesses the “structure, membership strength and grassroots support” it claims, why is Governor Otti’s endorsement so urgently required?
Why not proceed confidently with this supposedly formidable structure?
Why the panic?
Why the emotional press statements?
Why the daily attempt to force a Labour Party governor into an APC campaign uniform?
The spectacle resembles a man boasting that his car is perfectly sound while begging his neighbour to push it.
A PROJECT-ORIENTED GOVERNOR DOES NOT NEED TO BECOME A PRESIDENTIAL PRAISE SINGER
Governor Otti’s responsibility is to Abia people.
Where President Tinubu approves projects beneficial to Abia, the governor should cooperate and acknowledge the intervention.
Where federal policies hurt citizens, he retains the right to offer constructive criticism.
Where their development objectives coincide, they should work together.
Where their political parties differ, they should compete lawfully and respectfully.
That is democracy.
Democracy is not a cult in which cooperation requires total political surrender.
President Tinubu, an experienced politician, understands the difference between intergovernmental partnership and party defection. That may explain why the Presidency has continued to engage Governor Otti despite the endless provocations emanating from sections of the local APC establishment.
THE REAL THREAT IS COMPETENCE, NOT DISLOYALTY
The truth is that Governor Otti’s working relationship with President Tinubu creates an uncomfortable problem for his local opponents.
They cannot convincingly accuse him of isolation because federal officials work with him.
They cannot claim that Abia is being denied federal attention because joint projects are visible.
They cannot easily present him as an enemy of the President because he has repeatedly met and engaged Tinubu.
They cannot take exclusive possession of federal projects because Abia often contributes funding, approvals, land, construction support or complementary infrastructure.
Most dangerously for them, they cannot explain why a Labour Party governor is obtaining cooperation from an APC Federal Government while remaining electorally popular in Abia.
So they manufacture a new crime: Otti is cooperating with Tinubu without first surrendering to Abia APC.
That is the offence.
Not non-performance.
Not abandonment of projects.
Not hostility to the Federation.
His real offence is that he has demonstrated that Abia can receive federal cooperation without passing through the gatekeepers of a weakened local political establishment.
CONCLUSION: TINUBU AND OTTI SHOULD IGNORE THE MERCHANTS OF DISCORD
The President and the governor should continue to work together on roads, power, security, aviation, rail transportation, housing, industrial development and social investment.
President Tinubu should be credited for federal interventions.
Governor Otti should be credited for state-funded projects and for securing approvals, counterpart arrangements and partnerships that benefit Abia.
Where funding and responsibilities are shared, both governments should be acknowledged.
That is intellectual honesty.
What Abia must reject is the childish proposition that development is legitimate only when it strengthens the local APC campaign machinery.
Abia people need roads—not political tantrums.
They need electricity—not manufactured quarrels.
They need jobs—not press conferences asking an opposition governor to become an APC spokesman.
They need a functional airport—not arguments over who should stand closest to the President during the groundbreaking ceremony.
The Otti–Tinubu relationship is proving that political differences need not obstruct development.
That is precisely why certain political actors are working so hard to soil it.
Unfortunately for them, asphalt does not belong to any party.
Electricity does not ask for a membership card.
An airport does not enquire whether its passengers are APC, Labour Party or PDP.
And good governance cannot be hidden beneath an avalanche of angry press statements.
Abia APC may continue shouting. Otti and Tinubu should continue working.
The people can hear the noise—but they can also see the projects.
Loads and loads of laughter! 😂😂😂
VERIFIABLE SOURCES AND LINKS
TheCable, June 19, 2026 — Abia APC to Otti: Stop the deceit, publicly declare support for Tinubu
https://www.thecable.ng/abia-apc-to-otti-stop-the-deceit-publicly-declare-support-for-tinubu/�
Premium Times, June 2026 — Abia making remarkable progress under Otti, says Renewed Hope Presidential Media Team
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/888658-abia-making-remarkable-progress-under-otti-says-renewed-hope-presidential-media-team.html�
Federal Ministry of Information, February 29, 2024 — President Tinubu commissions Geometric Power in Abia
https://fmino.gov.ng/president-tinubu-commission-geometric-power-in-abia-extols-governor-otti-bart-nnaji/�
Federal Ministry of Information, December 18, 2024 — Tinubu upgrades Abia airport project to international cargo airport
https://fmino.gov.ng/president-bola-ahmed-tinubu-has-upgraded-the-abia-state-airport-to-an-international-cargo-airport/�
Premium Times, June 23, 2025 — “I’m very proud of what you’re doing for Abia people,” Umahi tells Otti
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-east/802611-im-very-proud-of-what-youre-doing-for-abia-people-umahi-tells-otti.html�
Premium Times, October 8, 2025 — You can’t disrupt Otti’s relationship with Tinubu, federal lawmakers tell Kalu
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/top-news/826585-you-cant-disrupt-ottis-relationship-with-tinubu-federal-lawmakers-tell-kalu.html�
Premium Times, October 25, 2025 — Otti flags off Umuahia–Ikot Ekpene Road rehabilitation
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/regional/ssouth-east/830689-otti-flags-off-umuahia-ikot-ekpene-road-rehabilitation-vows-to-deliver-project.html�
Premium Times, October 26, 2025 — Abia warns against attempts to sow discord between Otti and Tinubu
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/promoted/830952-abia-govt-warns-politicians-against-desperate-attempts-to-sow-discord-between-otti-tinubu.html�
TheCable, March 5, 2026 — APC asks Abia Government not to deny Tinubu credit for federal projects
https://www.thecable.ng/apc-to-abia-government-dont-deny-tinubu-credit-for-federal-projects/�
Premium Times, March 10, 2026 — FG and Abia collaborate on Umuahia–Ikot Ekpene Road
https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/more-news/862996-fg-abia-govt-collaborate-to-complete-umuahia-ikot-ekpene-road-federal-controller-of-works.html�
Premium Times, Ju
