With the governorship election a few d ays away from now, some jobless youths as well as
charge-and-bail lawyers, the likes of the so-called Barr. Emmanuel Ndidi Orji, the Converner of a non-existent and amorphous Abia Concerned Movement, have shamelessly rented themselves out as unscrupulous propagandists and bloggers, who are ready to do the dirty and scandalous bidding of their pay masters for any price.
They were hired to execute a yeoman’s assignment that revolves mainly around the mudslinging and wanton assassination of the hard-earned character of decency and integrity of the leading Governorship Candidate in the March 18 poll, Dr Alex Otti, of the Labour Party,
It is common knowledge that Otti left his juicy banking job, having reached the enviable top echelon of his career, and took a foray into partissn politics, essentially to rescue a state in comatose, steadily dying by instalments in the wicked hands of desparate politicians and predators of our common patrimony as a state.
Reading through the propaganda piece by a largely misinformed and deformed Barr. Emmanuel Ndidi Orji evokes a feeling of utter disappointment in this half-baked lawyer sounding so pedestrian and uneducated.
It’s absurd and unthinkable for anyone to believe this obvious attempt to blatantly stand facts on their head in a futile efforts to hoodwink the gullible and unintelligible Abia electorate and pitch them against Otti’s lofty candidacy in a robust and largely embraced, people-oriented political party, otherwise called the Obi-Movement.
Unfortunately, the attempt fell flat on its face and cannot persuade even a child in the kindergarten. It is obviously unimaginable how the former Managing Director of the defunct Diamond Bank Plc incurred a whooping N90 billion to execute his 2015 and 2019 governorship election ambition, according to Barrister Emmanuel Ndidi Orji.
What this gibberisht means is that he merely bandied figures completely bereft authenticity. He simply concocted blatant lies from the pit of hell and unconscionably spewed them to his unsuspecting audience.
It could have made some sense, if he said that Otti spent the humomongous amount on the two elections on campaigns without borrowing from any individual or institution. By that, it could have logically meant that he is not indebted to anybody or institution and only suffered a huge personal loss.
But it sounds extremely ridiculing and preposterous to convince any discernable person that this frontline governorship candidate borrowed such a huge amount of money for the 2015 and 2019 polls and has all these years been cruising around the globe freely and boisterously.
Wow! This is the kind of cock-and-bull stories only told to nincompoops and brain-dead, the likes of Barrister Emmanuel Ndidi Orji of no address, who should have their brains examined and reconfigured.
The piece becomes more repugnant to good conscience, considering the following critical and fundamental realities.
(1) That Alhaji Alico Dangote does not lend money to political office seekers. For crying out loud, this profoundly rich Nigerian multi-billionaire businessman is not a money lender. If and when he wishes to identify with his friends seeking political offices, he does so magnanimously without any string attached. So, this demolishes point one.
- Banks in Nigeria or anywhere in the world are no Father Christmas. Although they thrive in loan advancements to interested customers, they do so only to applicants with the capacity to repay after a thorough evaluation of their collateral in terms of its value relative to the facility.
Of course, Every facility is tied to strictly defined terms regarding time of loan commencement, repayment procedure and terminal date.
Sanctions are also stated in black and white and agreed to by the loan applicant in the event of any default.
Such sanctions could include but not limited to seizure of the collateral by the bank to recover its funds.
The bank can also institute a legal proceeding against a defaulting customer, who could neither repay nor servce his loan. A Court of competent jurisdiction upon conviction of the customer could pronounce him/her insolvent.
Flowing from the foregoing are some pertinent questions for Barrister Emmanuel Ndidi Orji:
- What were the terms of the N90 billion facility given to Otti in 2015 and 2019?
- What specifically was the duration of the loans? One year? Five years? Ten years? Or Otti’s entire lifetime?
- How reasonable was it for Dangote and/or banks to oblige Otti such huge facilities, first in 2015 and second in 2019, even with the first loan still pending? Barrister Emmanuel Ndidi Orji – you have betrayed yourself as one thinking through your ass rather than head, along with your co-travellers in character defamation.
- Which of the banks mentioned in your gibberish is currently prosecuting Otti for defaulting in liquidating or servicing facilities given either in 2015 or 2019? Please, your readers are eager to know.
OTTI’S DUAL NATIVITY
Otti’s dual nativity has never been in doubt. He also has never pretended about his Aro nativity.
In a similar manner, he tells the story of his ancestral progenation and birth in the quiet Umuru Nvosi Village in Isialangwa South Local Government Area of Abia State.
A man, who was born in this serene particular Ngwa locality, had his primary and secondary education, cannot be any less a native of Ngwa much less Otti, whose father was born in Ngwa land.
The extant Abia State Law on citizenship, signed by the former state Governor, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu, provides that anybody, who had lived in any part of the state for 10 years and above automatically has become an Abia indigene.
Beyond this, a prominent traditional ruler of Ngwa extraction regaled his audience at a function with the historical background of certain communites in Obingwa Local Government Area, including Umiobiakwa, where Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu hails from. Indeed, it’s no secret that people of Umuobiakwa migrated from Akwa Ibom.
This can be attested by the geographical contiguity and cultural affinity among some of the border communities in the two neighbouring states.
One may ask Barrister Emmanuel Ndidi Orji: Can Ikpeazu, whose ancestral origin can be easily traced to Akwa Ibom, claim to be a better or more legitimate Abia citizen than Otti, who is an all round Abia born?
It is, therefore, share idiocy for Barrister Emmanuel Ndidi Orji and his sponsors, to still interrogate Otti’s nativity, considering the provisions of the Abia State Law 2004.
Logically, given that Otti has well before his foray into politics identified legally as a native of Umuru Nvosi of Isialangwa South in Abia South Senatorial District, it follows that he should pick his running mate from either Abia Central or Abia North for purposes of consistency and political expediency. This does not in anyway amount to a breach of any known statute or moral standards.
On the contrary, it portrays Barrisater Emmanuel Ndidi Orji as an ignoramus, who merely advertised his sheer ignorance and moral depravity in his propaganda by attacking a man of impeccable and unimpeachable character and conduct in both private and public space.
Should we accept your requisite condition for qualification to clinch the next election, it means that, like millions of other discerning and prominent Abia personalities, you endorsed Dr Alex Otti as head and shoulders more qualified than his opponents, including your pay masters.
That is when you talk about character, capacity, competence and integrity. These attributes remain the hallmark of this accomplished banker of international repute, highly trusted, dependable, cerebral administrator and quintessential humanist.
OTTI DESPERATE OR PASSIONATE TO BECOME ABIA GOVERNOR?
It is uncharitable and grave mortal offence against God and humanity to describe Otti as one that is desperate to become Abia State governor.
Of course, there is no justifiable reason to so say, when one realises that he had never engaged in ballot snatching, vote buying, invasion of INEC Collation Centre in 2015 and other notorious and violent electoral offences and frauds, most of which characterised the elections of 2015, which he won but lost to the most notorious election fraud in the nation’s history of democratic elections.
Suffice it to conclude that Otti is only driven by passion rather than desperation to deliver Abia State from the mercantile politicians and plunderers of the state financial and material resources.
He is passionate to fix the huge infrastructure deficit in the state through the rebuilding of the schools, health facilities, regular payment of salaries and pensions, revitalisation of the moribund industries and agricultural sector as well as generate jobs to take the teeming unemployed youths off the streets and criminality.
These and many more grossly lacking key enablers of socio-economic growth and development remain his propeller and driving force.
Indeed, it is glaring that his isolation for persistent virulent attacks, like the only ripe fruit on a tree top, stems from the tell-tale signs that he has become the cynosure of all eyes and candidate to beat.
Gladly, Otti and Labour Party have a date to keep with destiny in Abia State on Saturday, March 18, 2023.
This is our huge consolation. To God be the glory!
— Written by Sam Okoro, an Umuahia-based Public Affairs analyst.