Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has declared that he does not tolerate political godfatherism and has no intention of becoming a godfather himself.
Otti made the statement on Thursday in Umuahia while receiving the former Social Democratic Party (SDP) governorship candidate, Mrs. Ngozi Johnson Chukwunenye, and her supporters into the Labour Party (LP).
The governor stressed that good governance remains the most important thing a leader can offer the people, arguing that once citizens experience good governance, they are unlikely to accept a return to poor leadership.
He said: “The most important thing you can give a people is good governance.
“And once people test good governance, it will be very difficult for them to allow you to take them back.
“So, if you are afraid that we will go back to Egypt, it will never happen. What I can assure you is that, by the time I’m done, the person who will succeed me will be better than me.
“I don’t want to be a godfather, and I don’t tolerate godfathers.
“We will all sit down, look at everybody and say, ‘Who is the best person for this job?’ Then all of us will agree, and we will campaign for him.
“He will win, and we will take a back seat.
“We should stop this sit-tight. It’s only you. It can’t be only you.
“There are smarter, more trained, better-trained, better-equipped younger people; our children. We need to give them the opportunity.
“You will see how smart our children are. So, these are the people that will take over from us.
“And they are being trained now for tomorrow, so we can never go back.
“We are now moving into the hinterlands, and we will continue until we reach everywhere, so nothing will stop us.”
