Defection: What Otti Discussed With Tinubu

Governor Alex Otti of Abia state did not meet with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in order to finalise his defection from the Labour Party, LP. The meeting with the president  centred on issues concerning the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, one of the governor’s aide said.

According to a statement signed by Ferdinand Ekeoma, the governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, the claim that Governor Otti met with the president to put finishing touches to his defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, is false, saying the issue of Kanu’s release from prison was the ‘subject matter” when the Abia governor met with Tinubu in Aso Rock, Nigeria’s Presidency two days ado.

Recall that a former Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs in the state, Charles Ogbonnaya, had alleged that Otti met with Tinubu to discuss his rumored plans to defect to the APC, ahead the next election in the country.

Part of the statement: “The governor subsequently had a meeting with the President after visiting the IPOB leader at the Sokoto Correctional Centre on Sunday, November 30, 2025. This is in continuation of earlier meetings the governor had been having with the FG on this matter in the past two years.:00 / 1:1

“The issue of Kanu was the only subject matter that took Governor Otti to Aso Rock and to the glory of God, the meeting was both positive and fruitful, as the President was so gracious and generous.’

The IPOB leader was recenrly senetnced to life imprisonment by Justice James Omotosho of the Abuja High court, after finding him guilty of terrorism charges preferred against him by the federal government. Kanu’s lawyers said he will appeal the judgment.