Governor Alex Otti of Abia State on Sunday said that he will continue to support President Tinubu as he makes difficult but courageous and necessary economic decisions to fix Nigeria’s economy.
According to him, Tinubu made a courageous decision to remove the fuel subsidy, and that it ought to have been done long ago.
Otti remarked while he received the former Governor of Abia State and the Senator representing Abia North Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, and Sen. Chris Adighije, who once represented Abia Central Senatorial District, in his county homes, Nvosi Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area.
The duo paid Otti a friendly visit to commend and encourage him for the good work he is doing in the state and also used the opportunity to discuss governance issues with him.
Otti thanked the former Governor for the work he did in the State in the past, saying that there was no need to dwell on how things went wrong in the past while stating that, what his administration has done is hit the reset button and start work, without looking back.
He emphasized that he is using the time he has to work for the people and not to fight anybody.
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Otti said, “When you talk about supporting President Tinubu, the President and I are very good friends and our friendship predates party politics and current positions; we agree on so many issues, and as it is natural, we know where we disagree. But, when you talk about the economy, what Mr. The president doing has always been my position for a long time.
“I urge people to go back and read my columns at the back of Thisday Newspaper, some years back, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic, where I said that it was time to remove fuel subsidy when off-takers were rejecting crude shipped to them, saying that they have no need for it.
“So, it requires somebody with courage to remove that subsidy, and I am in support of it. We have behaved in an irresponsible manner for a very long time. And, when you have years of irresponsible behaviour, the correction would be tough, difficult, and painful. It is the correction that we are going through now; if we don’t lose faith, we will eventually get it right.
“So, talking about supporting the President, it’s a no-brainer; I will continue to support him because it is the same administration.
“People in 2025 are talking of 2027 you can’t even talk about 2027 because there is no guarantee that you would go beyond 2025. Who are you to begin to talk about 2027?” he questioned as he imagined the audacity of those talking about 2027, trying to play God.
“Today is certain; tomorrow is a promise. Next, tomorrow is gambling. Let us talk about today; when tomorrow comes, and we are lucky to be part of it, we can hold the discussion. Nobody is competent to talk about tomorrow except that he or she wants to play God.
“Government and Governance is a continuum, it can be broken but you must go back and recover it,” Governor Otti explained, recalling how his late mother was a strong supporter of Orji Uzor Kalu for the good works he did in road construction when was became Governor, especially in Aba, adding that it is still the same template he is using.
“I can assure you, that template is not wrong. You fix the place that generates the revenue, the revenue will come, and you use it to fix other places,” he explained.
