The Abia State Government has denied reports that the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, met with his Imo State counterpart over alleged plans to defect to the All Progressives Congress.

They further described the rumour as false, baseless and unfounded.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Special Adviser to the Governor (Media and Publicity), Ferdinand Ekeoma, said, “The report that His Excellency, Governor Alex Otti, held a meeting with Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State over his alleged planned defection to the All Progressives Congress (APC), is false, baseless and unfounded. It’s completely devoid of substance and thus should be disregarded.”

Ekeoma explained that after the National Economic Council meeting on Thursday, April 24, Otti and a few of his colleagues joined Uzodimma to attend the birthday celebration of his twin daughters.

According to him, this event had nothing to do with politics.

“It’s natural for Governor Otti’s impressive performance, popularity and towering credentials as the Governor of Abia State to attract admiration and permutations from interested parties, however, Governor Otti’s political decisions, especially those that would have huge impact and far-reaching consequences on Abians, would at all times be taken in conjunction with majority of Abians and his allies. Such decisions must be justified and be seen to be in the overriding interest of Abia people,” he added.

He further explained that Otti is currently focused on governance and not 2027 politics.

He said, “Governor Otti strongly holds the view that though political activities seem to have once again started gathering momentum, it would be unfair to the Abia electorate if politics of 2027, instead of governance, is allowed to dominate discussions less than two years into the administration.

Governor Otti remains a member of the Labour Party and is presently not planning or discussing with anyone to defect to the APC or any other party for that matter, as falsely alleged.”

[Punch]