By Pascal Ibe

Introduction

Twenty-eight Nigerian governors will later this month begin the campaign to either seek re-election into office or a fresh bid in the 2027 elections.

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State is among the governors who are looking to complete the eight-year term, having been elected during the 2023 polls.

However, the coast seems to be cleared for him to win next year’s Abia governorship election, with the massive support and recognition he has enjoyed in the last three years.

From the streets of Abia, to the entire South-east states and on social media platforms, Otti has attracted massive praise because of his outstanding performance in the state over the last few years.

Even though he belongs to the Labour Party, which is now unpopular, it seems like next year’s Abia governorship election is now a walkover for him because there seems to be no famous candidate to match the governor’s popularity in Abia at the moment.

Claim

As the countdown to the start of the campaigns continues, an X user, @CrownPrinceCom2 has claimed that the ruling All Progressives Congress ( APC) has endorsed Governor Otti’s re-election.

In a post on Friday, the claim reads, “ Breaking: APC has endorsed Alex Otti as the next Governor of Abia State.”

According to X analytics, the post generated over 2,000 comments and likes, which indicates that people believed the claim.

Verification

In May, Eric Opah, emerged as the Abia APC governorship candidate for the 2027 election.

Opah scored 126,977 votes, while his closest challenger, Henry Ikoh, scored 5, 905 votes.

In June, the Abia State chapter of the APC insisted that Opah remains the party’s governorship candidate for the 2027 general elections, dismissing claims that Chief Henry Ikoh won the party’s primaries.

At the moment, like other candidates in Abia, he is gearing up for the campaigns and has not stepped down or endorsed Otti.

FACTWATCH Nigeria checked the official Facebook page of the APC governorship candidate in Abia but could not find any information that supports the claim that the party endorsed Otti.

Also, the announcement of the alleged endorsement of the governor was not found on the Facebook page of the APC spokesperson in Abia State, Uche Aguoru.

As of Friday, 7 August, no credible news organisation has reported the APC endorsement of Otti.

Verdict

A simple investigation could not point to any evidence that the APC in Abia State has endorsed Governor Otti. Therefore, the claim is FALSE.