By:Onyebuchi Ememaka
My attention has been drawn to stories gaining ground in the public arena to the effect that Dr. Alex Otti, as MD/CEO of Diamond Bank Plc was the brain behind the financing of the Aba Independent Power Project promoted by Geometric Power Ltd. Dr. Otti himself made the claim in his interview with Channels TV a few days ago.
I have decided to make this response in the interest of truth, posterity and for the benefit of the general public.
For the avoidance of doubt, it is preposterous and utterly mischievous for anyone to suggest that Otti had any hand in the Geometric Power Project owned by former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji.
First, let me state very clearly that I have a fair knowledge of the Aba Power Project. As an Aba based legal practitioner, I was Solicitor to the Odeukwu Community, Osisioma Ngwa LGA, one of the landlords of the project and in that capacity, I worked closely in the build up to the commencement of the project. I was also one of the lawyers that accompanied Prof Barth Nnaji to a meeting with the then Deputy Governor of Abia State, Comrade Chris Akomas to iron out some crucial issues concerning the project. This was in 2008 at the Government House Umuahia.
The ground breaking ceremony of the project took place at Osisoma on November 1, 2007. The event attracted an array of guests. Former President Umar Yar’adua was represented at the event by the then Minister of State, Gas, Engr. Emmanuel Odusina. Governors TA Orji and Ikedi Ohakim of Abia and Imo states respectively were present as well as members of the National Assembly. I was honored to be the Master of Ceremonies on that day, my biggest event ever.
The Diamond Bank team was led by the then Chairman of the Bank, Mr. Paschal Dozie, then MD, Emeka Onwuka and an Executive Director, U K Eke and others.
Diamond Bank led a consortium of Nigerian banks, who together with some select international banks provided the financing for the project.
By 2007 when this event took place, Dr. Alex Otti was an Executive Director at First Bank. He was appointed MD at Diamond Bank in 2011, four years after the event and conclusion of the financing scheme for the project.
It is therefore laughable that a man who took over a bank as MD in 2011 will lay claims to a 2007 project and use it for political reasons.
Again, Diamond Bank participated in the project purely on a commercial basis. The intention was to make profits from the loans it provided for the project. It was not a corporate social responsibility project by any stretch of the imagination.
In my view, it bothers on political desperation for Dr. Otti to go this far.
It is common ground that Dr. Otti is a successful banker but that is no reason to seek to distort clear clear facts with an intent to secure an undue advantage.
Meanwhile, the Aba Power Project which had so much promise and the good people of Aba looked forward to with glee to help jumpstart the economic life in the city appears to have been abandoned. One would have expected Dr. Otti, the man with the magic wand and who headed Diamond Bank for close to four years to turn the project around for the benefit of our people.
The simple truth is that prior to his ambitions to be Governor, Dr. Alex Otti has made no single contribution to the state, either in his personal capacity or through the banks he has led. I challenge anyone to name one single activity that benefitted the people of Abia State that was either initiated nor supported by Dr. Alex Otti.
Either by the provision of financing, counterpart funding or personal funding, Dr. Otti cannot point to project anywhere in the state that bears his imprimatur.
Like me, Dr. Otti is an old boy of Ngwa High School. Old boys of the school have always come together to intervene in the development of that great institution. I am not aware of any classroom, hostel or laboratory project supported by Dr. Otti.
Dr. Otti became an Executive Director in First bank in 2005 and in 2011, he was appointed MD at Diamond Bank. Within this period, you won’t find anything that promotes the social welfare of Abians that came via these channels. Banks support social welfare initiatives like education, health, sports, environmental health, etc. Banks provide uniforms for street sweepers, they provide waste disposal equipment, support women and youth empowerment programs. Nowhere in Abia State will you find any such initiative that came courtesy of Dr. Otti.
The only notable social support project directly linked to Dr. Otti is the brand new library he built and donated to Babcock University, Ilishan Remo, Ogun State.
From distorting his ancestral links to laying bogus and unfounded claims of financing the Aba Power Project, Dr. Otti’s gubernatorial ambitions is built on quicksand.
Onyebuchi Ememanka, a Lagos based Lawyer writes:
