The Vice Chancellor, Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Prof. Nnenna Oti, has emerged winner of the 2023 woman of the year Leadership Excellence Awards.
In a seven-day Leadership Excellence (LEEX) Awards voting by Nigerians via online platforms, Oti was voted ahead of three other nominees.
The 2023 Awards is the fifth in the series and is organized annually by Igbere TV that recognizes and honors the outstanding impacts of leaders across both public and private sectors in Nigeria.
Oti polled a total of 1,461,910 votes to defeat other nominees including popular Nigerian writer, Chimamanda Adichie; Borno First Lady, Falmata Zulum and Mokutima Ajileye, first female Nigerian Managing Director, Procter and Gamble (P&G), who got 508,695; 90,660 and 62,114 votes respectively.
It would be recalled that Oti made headlines in March 2023, after the governorship election results in Abia State were announced during the last gubernatorial election where she served as the INEC Returning Officer.
The Don was said to have withstood pressure from powerful politicians inspite of the attractive monetary inducement and financial incentives she was allegedly offered to manipulate the election results.
She insisted that the will of Abia voters would not be subverted under her watch, amid the heavy intimidation and threats.
According to her, ‘the people’s mandate shall stand. I have spent all my adult life in pursuit of the ideals of good governance.
“We shall stand by these principles. The pastor in me and the mother in me will not permit me to do anything that will adversely affect the future of our children”, she added.
