Dr Alex Otti, Labour Party’s Gubernatorial Candidate in Abia, has announced his running mate, Mr Ikechukwu Emetu, a 38-year-old engineer.
Otti also inaugurated his Campaign Council, with a former House of Representatives member, Chief Nnanna Ngwu, as the Chairman.
In a speech at the event in Umuahia on Tuesday, the governorship candidate said that Emetu fulfilled his yearning for a youth as running mate. Stating that the solution is to give the Abia youths a sense of belonging in the political sphere.
Otti explained that he got drawn to Emetu because of his history as a philanthropist.
“He is renowned in his Ohafia Local Government Area for his outstanding community development service and humanitarian gestures.
“So in all, he fits squarely into the characteristic and quality of the kind of deputy that I yearned for.”
Speaking on the campaign council, he mentioned that the team was established to drive a robust and result-oriented campaign that would ensure victory for the party.
Accepting the post, Emetu thanked Otti for finding him worthy of such a grand position.
“This opportunity is not only for me but for millions of Abia youths. You have made us to believe that the future truly belongs to the youth,” He said.
He promised to rally the youths for their collective victory at the polls, adding that they would not betray the confidence placed in them.
The chairman of the campaign council, Nnanna Ngwu pledged that the team would leave no stone unturned to ensure victory for the party. He pleaded with the members of the council to be committed to the project and shun divisive tendencies, such as gossips and backbiting.
Chief Acho Obioma, the State Field Coordinator of the campaign and former House of Representatives member, described Otti as “a good product that sells itself”, citing that the former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the defunct Diamond Bank “is loved and admired by the people”.
Most Rev. Chibuzo Opoko, the Methodist Archbishop of Umuahia Diocese who was a Special Guest of Honour at the event, in a remark, said he was satisfied with the high political consciousness sweeping through the country ahead of the General Elections. Stating that even clergymen could no longer afford to be apolitical at such a critical period in the nation’s political history.
“I am particularly happy over the active involvement of the nation’s youths to take back their country,” he said.
He ended by saying that all hands must be on deck to rescue Abia and the country from economic retardation, widespread poverty, infrastructural deficit, unemployment and general insecurity.
