The Labour Party (LP) has exempted Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, from its governorship screening exercise ahead of his second-term bid.
The National Chairman of the party and Chairman of its screening committee, Senator Nenadi Usman, disclosed this while briefing journalists on the outcome of the aspirants’ screening.
Usman said the party had earlier purchased nomination forms for Otti and also granted him a waiver from the screening process.
According to Usman, the party did not expect Otti to pay for the forms because of his status as a leader and major representative of the Labour Party.
She asked, “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?
“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 them. We also had a ceremony where we presented the forms to him. Not just his form, but several other forms.”
The party said the gesture was in recognition of his performance in office and his role in projecting the ideals of the Labour Party.
Usman praised Otti as a prominent representative of the party. She said the governor had upheld the party’s principles of equal opportunities and social justice in the administration of Abia State.
The LP chairman added that the waiver and free nomination forms were meant to encourage Otti to continue delivering quality governance to the people of the state.