Governor Alex Otti of Abia State says he does not want to be a political godfather and has assured that after his second tenure in 2031, his successor will be determined by Abia voters.
Otti stated this at the Labour Party State Secretariat in Umuahia on Thursday when he formally received the 2023 governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Dr Ngozika Gladys Johnson-Chukwunenye, into the party.
Otti said, “What I can assure you is that by the time I am done, the person that will succeed me will be better than me. I don’t want to be a godfather.
“I don’t tolerate godfathers. So, some of the people are making noise because they will tell you to do this, and I say I will not do it. Sometimes when I say no, they will go back and be digging for something.
“We will all sit down, look at everybody and say, who is the best person for this job? And then all of us would agree. And we will campaign for him. He will win. We will take a back seat.”
The governor said, “I am not interested in any other thing. I don’t even want to go to Senate. I am not interested. Once I finish this one, I will retire. Why do I say so? I want the young people to take over.
“You will see young people between the ages of 16 and 25. You will see how smart our children are. So, these are the people that will take over from us. And they are being trained now for tomorrow. So, we can never go back.
