Obingwa Mayor Dr. Eric Egwuibe pledges to collaborate with Governor Alex Otti for electoral integrity and good governance.
March 18, 2023, election in Obingwa stirred controversy, taking days to resolve before declaring Otti and the Labour Party winners.
In his speech after the Supreme Court reaffirmed his victory, Otti stated that future elections will not tolerate such manipulations.
New leaders are committed to ensuring election integrity in the local government area.
“I have a word for our brothers and sisters from Obingwa. In the recent adoptions, our lead counsel, Abiodun Owonikoko SAN, mentioned he has been our lawyer in Abia elections since 2015.
Elections are routinely rigged and results manipulated in Obingwa. It is instructive to say that it is not the whole Obingwa. It is a few people in the former ruling party, who had constituted themselves into instruments of manipulation, not because of the benefits that Obingwa would receive but for self interest. I’m happy to announce that a new crop of leaders have emerged from Obingwa and we’re going to support them.
Attending churches, they should know that pretending to win an election if you didn’t is a sin. The Bible teaches that righteousness uplifts a nation.
Obingwa is crucial to me—part of my Abia State upbringing, where we lived for years. I completed primary school there and appreciate the honesty of the people.
We tell stakeholders and manipulators in Obingwa to retire. A new generation seeks honesty, rejecting any association with manipulation, fraud, or scams.. We are people with dignity and we should maintain and respect that dignity.”
Reacting to the remarks, the chairman of the local government area, Egwuibe commeded the Governor for finding them worthy and entrusting the fortunes and governance of the area in their hands.
He vowed to diligently work to eradicate electoral fraud, crimes, and criminality, aiming to restore the area’s positive image.
“First, we are all thankful to His Excellency for finding us worthy to be in the circle of new crop of leaders in Obingwa.
“We bemoan the manipulations that made many of us victims of direct attacks of these opposition elements during the election.
“The mantra of the local government administration is Rebranding Obingwa for better politics.
We assure the governor and the people of Obingwa LGA that we’ll fix issues and prevent political attacks on our reputation. We are here to give our dear LGA a new lease of life,” Egwuibe said.
