"Stop Suffocating Otti" - Bourdex Slams Abia Opposition, Alleges Ex-Governors Ruined the State
Afnews Editor
Aug 18, 2025
Chief Dr. David Ogba Onuoha Bourdex has sparked controversy after blasting Abia's past governors, alleging they enriched themselves while neglecting the people. He urged critics to allow Otti to focus on rebuilding. Read full story.
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Chief Dr. David Ogba Onuoha Bourdex (MFR, OON), prominent Abia industrialist and elder statesman, has stirred controversy after launching a scathing attack on past Governors of Abia State, accusing them of allegedly enriching themselves and their cronies while abandoning the masses in poverty.
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In a strongly worded statement titled "Can We Just Allow This Governor to Breathe?", Bourdex compared the leadership of former Governors Orji Uzor Kalu, Theodore Ahamefule Orji, and Okezie Ikpeazu with that of the incumbent, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, and declared that for the first time since 1999, Abia has a leader who came prepared to govern.
According to him, past leaders "only succeeded in enriching themselves, their families, and loyalists" while leaving behind broken roads, decayed schools, collapsed health facilities, and a demoralized workforce. He alleged that the three administrations were "clueless in the art of governance" and only perfected patronage networks that crippled the state.
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"I knew these men. I watched them closely. None of them can honestly be said to have governed with purpose. They pale in comparison to what we are witnessing today. The truth is that Abia stagnated under them," Bourdex said.
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He accused opposition voices, many of whom were part of the previous governments, of desperately trying to derail Governor Otti's reforms through propaganda and "needless political distractions."
Bourdex praised Otti's leadership style, describing it as "intentional, purposeful, and focused." He listed ongoing reforms in infrastructure, education, healthcare, salary and pension payments, and transparency as evidence of a new culture of governance.
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Among the achievements he highlighted were:
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Reconstruction of long-abandoned roads with what he called "quality never before seen in the state."
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Prompt payment of salaries and pensions.
Prioritization of education and healthcare.
Renewed investor confidence in Abia.
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Revival of the long-abandoned Abia Airport project, which Ikpeazu allegedly failed to deliver.
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Bourdex argued that these milestones show Otti's vision of transforming Abia into a functional state, contrasting sharply with the alleged failures of his predecessors.
He called on opposition leaders to stop what he described as "sabotage," warning that constant attacks on Otti's government were not acts of patriotism but a desperate attempt to hold the state hostage.
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"Those who plundered Abia for two decades must understand: their time has passed. They cannot hold the future hostage because they are uncomfortable with a leader who has chosen a higher road," he declared.
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Bourdex further reminded critics of the constitutional immunity granted to sitting Governors, stressing that it was designed to allow them space to govern effectively rather than battle endless distractions.
Closing his statement with an emotional appeal, Bourdex asked:
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"Abia deserves peace. Abia deserves focus. Abia deserves transformation without distraction. And so I ask again: Can we just allow this Governor to breathe?"
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His remarks are already generating heated debate within Abia's political circles, with loyalists of past Governors accusing him of bias, while Otti's supporters hail his intervention as a voice of reason.
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— Afnews Editor