Gov Otti Speaks on Preferred Candidate for 2027 Presidency

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has refused to disclose whether he would vote for President Bola Tinubu or Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) presidential candidate Peter Obi in the 2027 presidential election.

However, the governor said his preferred candidate must be capable of winning the election.

Otti made the clarification during an interview with ARISE News while responding to a question on who he would support if he had to choose between Tinubu and Obi in the 2027 presidential race.

Asked directly, “If push comes to shove and you are to support one candidate between President Tinubu and Peter Obi, who would Governor Alex Otti vote for?” the Abia governor declined to name his choice.

“I will not speak on who I will vote for here, but it must be somebody that will win,” Otti said.

Otti had earlier said he was not in a position to oppose Tinubu’s candidacy, stressing that he is part of a government that includes the President and that disagreements over policies should be handled through internal discussions rather than public opposition.

“It works the way you have said it. It’s a statement of fact. I’m not in a position to oppose his (Tinubu’s) candidacy,” Otti said.

The governor explained that openly working against the presidential ambition of a president whose administration he is involved with could create divisions within government.

“Sometimes people don’t understand opposition. When you say you’re opposition, and you are part of a government, then what you are driving towards is implosion,” he said.

Otti said he would instead raise any disagreement he had with government policies during meetings where such issues could be discussed.

“So if I do have a problem with anything, I’ll sit down in one of our meetings, and I make my point,” he said.

“I’m not going to oppose his candidacy, and it is not within my right, even as a human being. So I can choose what I want to do,” the governor added.

Despite this position, Otti has maintained that acknowledging Tinubu’s right to contest the 2027 election should not automatically be interpreted as an endorsement of the president’s re-election bid.

In the same interview, he explained that there were several policies of the Tinubu administration that aligned with his own views, even though that did not settle the question of who he would vote for in 2027.

“There are a lot of things that we have talked about now that he (Tinubu) has implemented that resonate with me and my thinking,” Otti said.

He particularly pointed to the removal of the petrol subsidy, which Tinubu announced shortly after assuming office in May 2023.

Otti said he had long opposed subsidising fuel consumption, arguing that government resources would be better directed towards production and other productive sectors.

“I don’t have a problem supporting production, but consumption should not be subsidised,” he said.

The Abia governor maintained that the former subsidy arrangement was financially unsustainable and could encourage wasteful consumption because motorists were not bearing the full cost of the fuel they used.

“You know, as election approaches, people will be making all sorts of arguments, but removing the subsidy was the right thing to be done,” Otti said.

“And I don’t think anybody who is praying that subsidy returns means well for the country,” he added.

Otti acknowledged that the removal of the subsidy created hardship for Nigerians, but maintained that the policy was necessary.

“There will be the pain initially,” he said.

He also said anyone advocating a return to subsidy would need to explain how the government would finance it.

“For instance, the fuel subsidy was even unsustainable. And if you want to reintroduce it, that’s fine. But then you need to also fund it,” Otti said.