Alex Otti, Abia State governor has disclosed that the state has won a 400,000 Dollars Primary Health Care UNICEF prize award in a programme tagged “Leadership Challenge.”
Otti disclosed this last weekend during the monthly media chat tagged, “Governor Otti Speaks to Abians” held at the Government House Umuahia.
According to the governor, a lot has been done in the health sector including the 200 primary healthcare centres (PHCs) undergoing retrofitting with a target of using 100 days to rehabilitate 200 PHCs spread across the 184 wards of the state while progress is made on the proposed medical village, details of which he noted would be disclosed by the first quarter of next year.
“Yesterday, our state won a prize at the UNICEF primary healthcare. They call it leadership challenge. Our dear state came second in the South East and won a prize money of 400,000 Dollars.
“This is not the first time we are winning that prize, last year, we also came second. We are hoping that next year, we will make it to the first position.
“We believe it is still early days, by the time we complete all these projects that we have on hand, I think the story will be different,” Otti assured.
Otti also said that the security architecture of the state was being rejigged to nip-in-the-bud completely, the new trend of crime in some parts of the state, assuring Abians coming home for the yuletide of adequate security.
“We have decided to rejig the security architecture. We are doing everything possible to ensure that our state is safe and particularly at this time.
“I would like people to know that the government is not going to rest on its oars until we rid this place of any criminal activity, be it in the rural or urban areas.
“I would also encourage our brothers and sisters in the diaspora who have given indication that they were going to come, to continue because we have made adequate arrangements to protect everyone in the state, particularly in this time,” he said.
On the proposed Abia Airport to be flagged off Tuesday this week at Nsulu, the state chief executive pointed out that the project was owned by the Federal Government while the state provided the land and other logistics for smooth take off and execution of the project.
“I see a few people make comments without sufficient information. The first time I spoke about Abia Airport, I made it clear that it is a Federal Government’s project. What we have come to do is to provide land and also provide logistics and the airport is constructed to standard.
“The other thing is that the Federal Government intended to build an airstrip but with our intervention and our promise to come in at any time we are required to, hence it was converted to a full-fledged airport. We had reasoned that the difference between an airport and airstrip is the runway,” Otti clarified.
The governor, who informed that he had last Tuesday presented the 2025 budget estimate to the State House of Assembly amounting to N750 billion, reiterated that about 82 percent of the budget is for capital expenditure while about 18 percent would go on recurrent expenditure.
Read also: UNICEF calls for renewed commitment in sanitation to limit spread of diseases
He dismissed the insinuations that the budget was on the high side and explained why it is so.
“Some people have made comments about the size of the budget. When you look at the size in absolute terms, it would look high, but if the budget size with over 30 percent inflation and exchange rate depreciation, then the difference is not even as much as it looks.
“The important thing is that every budget is an aspiration. It is aspiration that is founded on logic.
Budgets entrusted become the budget realistic and at the end of the day you would have implemented it. It is all about planning,” he explained.
Speaking on the new National Minimum wage, Governor Otti noted that he has since October commenced the implementation and has directed that some issues relating to consequential adjustment which were observed should be resolved as soon as possible while the December and 13th month salaries would be paid on or before 20th of this month.
Responding to questions on the report that some Permanent Secretaries and other civil servants earlier retired as a result of government ‘s policy, were yet to get their entitlements, the governor said he had directed the Accountant General of the state to address the issue, assuring that all concerned would get what is due to them.
On education, the governor said his administration has commenced the implementation of the recommendation of the white paper report of the visitation panel of ABSU and has also started renovations and making great impact in Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic and ASCETA while a lot of work had been done and is still ongoing at basic education sub sector.
On the agricultural sector, the governor said he was engaging with relevant stakeholders to disentangle and revive moribund farm settlements that were privately concessioned by previous administration, disclosing that a private company was about investing about 120 million Dollars in the Palm oil value chain of the state.
Join BusinessDay whatsapp Channel, to stay up to date
Open In Whatsapp
