Governor Alex Otti of Abia State at the weekend played host to the former presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso, at his Nvosi country home in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area(LGA).

Speaker of the House of Assembly  Emmanuel Emeruwa, some aides of the governor, and members of the Kwankwasiyya Movement were  present.

Although Kwankwaso said he was in the state to condole with Otti on the passing of Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the first governor of old Abia State, rumours of a possible political alliance between him and Otti, the only Labour Party(LP) governor in the country, spread.

Onu was buried in Uburu, his hometown in Ohaozara LGA of Ebonyi State on Friday.

Kwankwaso’s visit coincided with a reception held by the governor for 15 Abia indigenes who recently graduated from the Nigeria Police Academy in Kano.

Shortly after he departed the state, political analysts said they were sure that the visit was partly informed by efforts of the Peter Obi-led LP faction to align with other opposition parties ahead of 2027.

‘’Don’t forget that  2027 is near. Do you think the two men would meet like they did now with talking about the next presidential election? That is impossible,’’ one of them told  The Nation.

Another said Kwankwaso and Otti were  ‘’very much aware that the only way to oust   President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the All Progress Congress (APC)  from  the centre is   a formidable alliance.

‘’They know that now is the best time to start talking about how to defeat those in Aso Rock. And that, I believe is the core reason for the visit.”

Last month’s  local government poll in the state produced a stunning result with candidates loyal to Otti winning  nearly  all the chairmanship positions on the platform of the Zenith Labour Party(ZLP)

The governor backed the winners because of court cases on the authentic leadership of the leadership of the LP.

One faction of the party is led by Julius Abure while the other supported by Obi and Otti is headed by  Nenadi Usman, a former Finance minister.

Political analysts argued that if Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP), Obi, and Kwankwaso fail to put their political differences behind and field an acceptable presidential candidate in 2027, they might end up not making a significant impact.

Otti had while welcoming Kwankwaso recalled how he offered him a  ‘’platform in May 2022  to run ’’ as a governorship candidate.

He thanked  Kwankwaso for his guidance and patriotism.

His words: “Thank you for your guidance, for your patriotism, for everything that you have done for this country.

“I want to thank you for encouraging me in 2022  not to lose faith,  though we were in different parties, and it appeared as if everything was going to be lost.

“That call that you made about the 20th of May 2022,  for also making your platform available for me to run if I had wanted to use the platform, the rest is now history.”

Kwankwaso, a former Kano State governor, congratulated Otti on his emergence as governor. He also    lauded his achievements in the state

“For the little time I have been here, I have had the opportunity of talking to a few people who confirmed to me that you are doing very well. We have seen your project everywhere” he said.

The governor and his visitor urged the new Police officers to work hard,  contribute to the security of the country, and be good ambassadors of the state.

“The challenge is for you to now work very hard, knowing fully well that in this society, the son of a nobody can be the father of somebody,” said Otti.

“If people like us who grew up here without any hope at that time can be here, there is no reason why you can’t get here. But I am challenging you to be the best you can be.

“Always do things right and do the right things. You can always get to where you are headed. Cutting corners does not take you too far, “ the governor added.

Kwankwaso charged the new police officers to be professional in the discharge of their duties.

“Let me take this opportunity, based on my experience, to advise you to first and foremost fear God.

“Two, you need to be professionals. Now you are fresh, just coming out of the prestigious institute.stay there as professionals,” he said.

Ahead of the November 16 governorship election in Ondo state, some All Progressives Congress (APC) groups, under the auspices of Ondo Patriots, have announced that they have commenced mobilisation in support of the candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Otunba Benson Akingboye.

The Coordinator of the group, Comrade Dele Oyewo, in a petition titled, ‘Protest against Gov. Aiyedatiwa and the party approach’, which was addressed to the National Chairman of the APC, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje, said the decision was informed by the “questionable” emergence of the state governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa, as the candidate of the party.

The group noted that the national leadership of the party had taken side with Aiyedatiwa at the “shallow primaries” conducted in April 2024.

Parts of the petition read: “The leadership of the various organising groups within the party structure in the state for the umpteen time hereby re-emphasise that it is going to be almost impossible to work with the party and the governor on Nov. 16th gubernatorial election.

“But we discovered that the party leadership in Abuja is not in any way concerned about the wellbeing of citizens of Ondo state, rather they prefer their own choice of settlement over any form of resulting consequences.

“The voices of people in Ondo State – an appendages of the APC hereby condemn what it described as derailment and gross misconduct against the party ethics in line with the choice of Gov. Aiyedatiwa if truly we are different from PDP and that we do to the latter what we preached before 2015 general elections.

“We, the major APC groups in Ondo state have decided to pick Otunba Benson Akingboye of the Social Democratic Party as our choice.

“However silent mobilisation has been ongoing but we decided this time to inform our party because of the myriad of “I don’t care attitude” that the APC leadership in Abuja have been displaying to matters like this that concerns the youth of Ondo state long before.

“We cannot continue to die in silence and showcase total loyalty to the destiny wasters in our state. Otunba Benson Akingboye is more or less an APC family whose track and philosophy are similar to that of our dear president Tinubu.

“He had on various platforms recognised His excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu as an epitome of modern politics that Nigeria can have. If truly the party leadership is concerned about the great future of our dear party and the good people of Ondo state, it will see this write-up as a clarion call rather than attack on the party.

“We are monitoring all the activities very closely from all quarters. We pray that in a bid to favour gov. Aiyedatiwa, some people will not set Ondo state on Fire.

“Meanwhile, what would eventually remove gov. Aiyedatiwa from office is already cooking even when he is forcefully declared as the winner of the election. We have told our people not to waste their precious votes!”