The Igbo socio-culture and pressure group, Igbo Union Nzuko Ndi Igbo, has stated that it will ask the Governor of Abia State, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, to step down if he scores 83 percent of the total cast votes in the 2027 governorship election, and if the election will be free and fair.

“The only currency used in paying back love is love, and Ndi Igbo are not ungrateful people, and would definitely pay Governor Alex Otti back with love for the transformation of Abia State in a short period of two years,” it said in a statement issued by the union’s Convener, Prince Elias Odoemena.

Odoemena said Igbos and other tribes that are resident in Abia State, will vote massively for Otti by giving him more than 83 per cent of their votes, leaving about 15 percent of the votes to other political parties during the 2027 guber election.

He noted that the group hinged their support to Otti based on the many developmental strides in has brought to Abia in just few years of mounting the saddle of governance in the state, especially in the areas of roads infrastructure, human capital development, thereby giving the people of the state a true sense of belonging, after many years of neglect and maladministration in the hands of previous administrations in the state.

“Igbo Union Nzuko Ndi Igbo were baffled with the magic touch and systematic approach Governor Otti brings to governance in Abia State, especially opening up the state for investments. It is on record that the road networks he’s constructing in the major towns in the state are second to none, especially in Aba and Umuahia–even as other towns and rural roads are being attended to,” he said.

He added that Otti has continued to achieve all these feats in the state without borrowing, unlike the other former governors of the state, who plunged the state into perennial debts.

Odoemena said that Otti has raised the bar of governance higher in Nigeria because he is not amongst those who allowed the euphoria of the nomenclature of office as a governor to swell up his head, describing the governor as a coolheaded public servant whose priority is service to people and humanity.

“It’s also important to note that his wife is not visible in his administration and she is not the type of governors’ wives that spent billions of Naira to organise August meetings,” the statement added.

The statement further added that Otti has been able to go far in governance because he does not spend more than one day outside Abia State, noting that the only time he spent more than one day outside the state was when he travelled to Miami, Florida in the United States of America to attend the wedding of Igbo grandson, Davido Adeleke, whose father donated N500 million to Abia State security network.

Odoemena cautioned the food-is-ready politicians who are known for their serial blackmailing exercise, and who have turned overnight to be activists, saying that any bad words from them to Otti would be regarded as an attack on the Igbos.

The union also thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the South East Development Commission (SEDC) and the Federal Government partnering with Otti in the new Abia State Airport at Nsulu.

Odoemena also pleaded with Tinubu to partner with Otti’s administration in the construction of the new seaport at Azunmiri in Abia State.