Abia CSO criticises attempt to stop Otti, warns mischief-makers

A civil Society Organisation (CSO), United Abia Artistes and Patriots (UAAP), yesterday, warned mischief-makers, especially members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State, to desist from moves to destabilise the incoming administration of Dr. Alex Otti.

The group said attempt to truncate the election of Otti through a court in faraway Kano State was a joke taken too far. Addressing a press briefing, yesterday, the convener of the group, Osita Offor, and Secretary, Chuks Akamadu, declared that any attempt to undermine the mandate willingly given to the governor-elect by the long-suffering people of Abia would be resisted.

UAAP noted that the state is currently at peace because of Otti’s election, stressing that Abians have come to see March 18 as their day of independence from bad governance and backwardness.

The group said: “Abia is precious to us, and the people have suffered so much hardship and deprivation; we demand that the judiciary should refrain from entertaining ill-conceived suits that are clearly designed to embarrass it as temple of justice, and allow Otti to focus on fixing our battered state.

“We demand immediate end to mischief-making and acts capable of hurting Abia’s democratic journey by the soon-to-expire gang of political profiteers, otherwise they would have Abians to contend with.”

UAAP said that the denial by the presiding justice of the Kano court was only a sign of things to come, adding, “The Kano court judgment was dead on arrival, and, therefore, a storm in a teacup, which should not be given a life it does not have.

“The mandate given to Otti by Abians is safe, and can never be stolen by usurpers, who are pained and frightened by the reality of their imminent exit from power in the next few days.”

UAAP regretted what it called “failures by past administrations” in the state, particularly 35 months salary arrears owed workers, as well as 40 months pension arrears.

The group alleged that gratuities for retired workers in the state are now a forgotten benefit, noting that doctors and judicial workers are still on strike over poor or absence of remuneration.