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5 Facts About LP Candidate, Alex Otti Who Ended PDP’s Reign In Abia

Published

2 years ago

March 22, 2023

Alex Otti is an economist, ex-banker, investor, philanthropist, and politician. Otti is currently the Governor-elect of Abia State in Nigeria.

Otti, who is the Labour Party (LP) candidate in Abia State, was declared the winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, after a dramatic collation of results for the state’s governorship election held on Saturday, March 18.

Otti emerged as the winner after defeating his closest rival, Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

According to the Returning Officer, Professor Nnenna Oti, the Labour Party candidate scored a total of 175,467 votes to beat his main challenger, Ahiwe of PDP, who garnered a total of 88,529 votes.

Below are five things to know about the governor-elect of Abia State, Alex Otti:

1) Alex Ottti was born on the 18th of February 1965 in Isiala-Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia state to the family of the late Mr. & Mrs. Lazarus Weze Otti. His father was pastor.

2) Otti attended the Ngwa High School and Secondary Technical School, Okpuala Ngwa in Abia State.

He graduated with a first-class degree in Economics from the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT).

He also got an MBA degree from the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Otti took some international courses in institutions like Columbia Business School, Stanford Business School, and Wharton Business School.

3) He started his banking career in 1989 with the Nigeria International Bank, then moved to Nigerian Intercontinental Merchant Bank Ltd. In 1992, he joined Societe Bancaire Nigeria Limited (Merchant bankers) before moving to the United Bank of Africa (UBA) as the principal manager overseeing the bank’s corporate banking sector for the entire south division.

In 2001, he joined First Bank of Nigeria as Assistant General Manager and was later appointed as executive director, of commercial banking. In 2011, he moved from First Bank Nigeria to Diamond bank as the Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer.

He retired from the banking sector in 2014.

4) He was a gubernatorial candidate of Abia State under the All Progressive’s Grand Alliance (APGA) in 2015. Otti was declared the winner of the election after the Court of Appeal removed Okezie Ikpeazu of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). But the decision was reversed by the Supreme Court.

5) The governor-elect of Abia is a member of the Editorial Board of THISDAY Newspaper. He is also a columnist. Under the title, “Outside The Box”, Otti writes on a wide range of issues.

News

Smokers Risk Cardiac Arrest, Expert Warns

Published

1 hour ago

September 4, 2025

Editor

A Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery, in the department of surgery, Faculty of Clinical Sciences, College of Health Sciences, University of Uyo, Prof Eyo Ekpe has warned cigarettes smokers and patients with diabetes to take adequate of their chest in order not to fall a victim of cardiac arrest .

He said that these health conditions trigger certain types of abnormal heartbeats called arrhythmias responsible for sudden cardiac arrest.

Professor Ekpe gave the warning on Wednesday while delivering the 117th Inaugural Lecturer of the University of Uyo, titled “My Chest! My Chest!! My Chest!!!: Relieving Chest Pain, Preventing Death and Restoring Health”

He disclosed that many Nigerians have died for ignoring cardiac arrest triggers, preventing them, or seeking late medical attention to chest related ailments.

“Chest pain should not be ignored. Symptom of chest pain that is reported early would afford the clinician the opportunity to obtain adequate medical history from the person, medically examine the person thoroughly, optimally conduct the necessary laboratory tests to unravel the cause, and apply an evidence based treatment modality to relieve the chest pain, prevent death and restore heath.

“People should guard their heart diligently to prevent heart attack. Cigarette should not be smoked, high blood pressure should be prevented or controlled, diabetes mellitus should be prevented or controlled, and high blood cholesterol and lipoprotein should be prevented or controlled. A culture of regular physical exercise must be intentionally domesticated.

“People should guard their heart diligently to prevent cardiac arrest. Causes and triggers of arrhythmias should be prevented by preventing stress, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, coronary artery disease and electrolyte disorders, and avoiding cigarette smoking and alcohol abuse,” he stated.

Ekpe said medical consultation for chest problems should be with qualified medical doctors to avoid misdiagnosis, wrong treatment and complications, adding that regular medical checks and timely reports of symptoms of ailments must be prioritised.

“Safe-driving habit and road safety must be taken as a serious business. Seat restrained-belt should be used by all occupants of moving vehicles.

“Bicycles, motorcycles and tricycles should not ply traffic-congested roads. All victims of chest pain and chest injuries must be attended to by qualified medical doctors in a timely manner,” he advised.

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FirstBank’s Digital Banking Channels Suffers Downtime

Published

2 hours ago

September 4, 2025

Editor

FirstBank has suffered a temporary disruption to its major digital banking channels, which will prevent some customers from completing transactions.

In a notice issued on Thursday, the bank said the downtime is affecting services on FirstMobile, FirstOnline, and its *894# USSD platforms.

“Please be informed that we are currently experiencing some downtime affecting transactions to other banks on FirstMobile, FirstOnline, and USSD platforms. Customers may therefore experience delayed or declined transactions,” the circular read.

The bank apologised for the inconvenience and assured customers that its technical team, working with partner service providers, is making every effort to restore full services as quickly as possible.

The disruption occurred less than two months after FirstBank introduced facial biometric authentication on its FirstMobile app, designed to enhance the customer experience and security.

News

JUST IN: Tinubu Begins 10-day Vacation, Departs Abuja For Europe

Published

3 hours ago

September 4, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu on Thursday commenced a 10-day vacation as part of his 2025 annual leave, the Presidency announced.

According to a statement signed by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, the President will spend the 10-working-day vacation between France and the United Kingdom, after which he will return to Nigeria.

Onanuga said, “President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will depart Abuja today, September 4, to commence a working vacation in Europe, as part of his 2025 annual leave.

“The vacation will last 10 working days.

“President Tinubu will spend the period between France and the UK and then return to the country.”

Details later…