The National Chairman of the Labour Party and head of the party’s screening committee, Nenadi Usman, has revealed that Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, was exempted from the screening exercise conducted for aspirants seeking the party’s ticket.
Senator Usman made the disclosure while briefing journalists on the outcome of the screening exercise for aspirants contesting under the Labour Party platform.
According to her, the waiver granted to Governor Otti also covered the purchase of nomination forms, which the party obtained on his behalf.
“Is it possible for the leader of the House to come for screening, just like it’s done in other parties? In the party that he nurtures?” she said.
“Well, we had waived off screening for him. We gave him a waiver. We took the forms and gave them to him and told him we didn’t expect him to pay anything for it. We also had a ceremony where we presented the forms to him. Not just his form, but several other forms.”
According to a report by Hobnob News, Governor Otti, who is seeking a second term in office, received the Labour Party nomination forms free of charge from the party’s National Working Committee led by Senator Usman.
The Labour Party chairman commended the governor for what she described as his outstanding representation of the party and his commitment to the principles of equal opportunities and social justice in the governance of Abia State.
Usman said the gesture was intended to recognise Otti’s performance in office and encourage him to continue delivering quality governance to the people of the state.
She further noted that the governor has remained a strong symbol of the Labour Party’s ideals through his administration in Abia State.
