#EndBadGovernance: Otti Thanks Abia People For Boycotting Protest

The Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti has Appreciate the people of his state for heeding to his plea not to join the hunger protests going on in some parts of the country which has resulted in the loss of lives and destruction of properties.

Ukoha Njoku Ukoha, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Otti in a statement made available to New Telegraph said that the Governor on two occasions within last week appealed to Abia people not to join the protest.

He said that the Governor expressed his gratitude to the Abia people at the weekend for boycotting the protest while observing the Sabbath worship at the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, No 1 School Road, in Aba South Conference of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church.

The CPS to Otti said that his principal had appealed to Abia people firstly when he received Mr Peter Obi, the Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party in the 2023 Presidential Election where they spoke to the Press after a private breakfast meeting.

He added that secondly, the Governor through a State broadcast he made a day before the protest acknowledged the people’s right to peaceful protest to air their grievances and at the same time expressed worry that the protest may be hijacked by hoodlums and enemies of the progress the State is making under his administration.

According to Ukoha, Otti while addressing the congregation said, “I want to use this opportunity to thank you and Abia people who listened to my plea not to come out, pour into the roads and disrupt services and activities and probably visit mayhem on the people.

“The reason is not because things are not difficult, far from it. I recognize how difficult things are today, but at the same time, there is a saying that two wrongs cannot make a right.

“I also do know that a lot of our people live by the day, some are traders, some are Keke riders, some are barbers, and some are taxi drivers. These people put food on the table on the basis of what they earn that particular day.

“My Plea was that we can always sit down to discuss. And, I want to thank the Abia people for heeding that call. It does not mean that we don’t have rights to protest but there are different ways of protesting.

“And, I think that the authorities had even listened to you and heard what you did not say. You know, it is easy to hear what you are saying but I can assure you that our Government has heard what you did not say.”

Otti noted that disrupting the activities of those whose daily bread depends on going out daily in the name of protest will end up worsening the problem the protesters are trying to solve and therefore thanked the people for responding to the call.