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. During an interview with ARISE News, Otti said his preferred candidate must be capable of winning the election. He made the clarification while responding to a question on who he would support if he had to choose between Tinubu and Obi.
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. According to Otti, openly working against the presidential ambition of a president whose administration he is involved with could create divisions within government.
The governor explained that he would instead raise any disagreement he had with government policies during meetings where such issues could be discussed. Otti added that he is not going to oppose Tinubu’s candidacy, and it is not within his right, even as a human being, to do so. He emphasized that he can choose what he wants to do.
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.
Otti pointed to the removal of the petrol subsidy, which Tinubu announced shortly after assuming office in May 2023, as one of the policies that resonated with him. He had long opposed subsidising fuel consumption, arguing that government resources would be better directed towards production and other productive sectors.
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. He said removing the subsidy was the right thing to be done and that anyone advocating a return to subsidy would need to explain how the government would finance it.
Otti acknowledged that the removal of the subsidy created hardship for Nigerians, but maintained that the policy was necessary. He emphasized that for instance, the fuel subsidy was even unsustainable and that if anyone wants to reintroduce it, they need to also fund it.
Key points
- Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has declined to disclose his preferred candidate in the 2027 presidential election.
- Otti said his preferred candidate must be capable of winning the election.
- The governor emphasized that removing the petrol subsidy was the right thing to be done.
