Leadership of Labour Party, LP, has confirmed that the Abia State governor, Alex Otti, has no plans to defect to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, ahead of the 2027 general elections.
LP’s National Publicity Secretary, Mr Obiora Ifoh, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria yesterday in Abuja.
Ifoh, in the interview, dismissed the rumour that Otti intends to leave Labour Party for the APC, calling it completely false.
“It is just a rumour and we hope it remains so. We are in constant contact with our governor and he has assured us that he is not going anywhere ahead of 2027.
“We believe he will stay with us, despite some of the issues we are working hard to resolve,” he said.
While acknowledging that political defections are not uncommon in a democratic system, Ifoh emphasised that Otti had no intention of joining the ruling APC.
“The courts have often interpreted Section 84 of the 1999 Constitution and many defections have been challenged in court. So, if five governors are planning to defect, it won’t be anything new, as it has happened before,” he said.
Ifoh attributed the rumoured defection to the challenges faced by some opposition governors in managing their states.
“We are doing well in Labour Party, and our governor is with us. We hope that by 2027, we will have more governors in our ranks,” he said.
