• Saturday, July 27, 2024
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2024 budget will lift Abia economy, Says Otti

One year in office: Otti urged to make Abia best state in Nigeria

Alex Otti, governor of Abia State, has assured that the 2024 budget will unlock the great potential that abound in the state and enable Abia to rise to greater heights.

Governor Otti stated this during a reception held in his honour by the people of Aba South, at the School of Health Science and Technology, Aba.

He noted that the budget, which had already been passed into law by the Abia State House of Assembly would take the state out of the deep hole that it found itself in and release it to fly.

Otti commended the leadership of the House, chaired by Emmanuel Emeruwa, the Speaker, and every member of the House for considering the budget expeditiously.

He described the speaker, who also represents the Aba South State Constituency in the House, as a gift to the state and expressed confidence in his leadership of the legislative arm of the state government.

“I would like to thank Aba South for the gift of Emmanuel Emeruwa. He is a rare gift to this state and nation. I may not have known him for donkey years, but anybody you see and you are observant, even before the person does anything, you will know the type of person he or she is.

“The House of Assembly has a responsibility to elect their leadership, ours is to support, and I had no problem supporting Emmanuel Emeruwa, and just like he has said, he has done very well and he will continue to do well,” Otti declared.

The Abia chief executive thanked all Aba residents for their unwavering support right from the beginning of his quest to lead Abia State in 2015, and restated his commitment to rebuild the Enyimba City, which he described as the production, industrial and commercial hub of Abia State, the South-East and Southern Nigeria.

The governor, however, frowned at the attitude of the residents to waste disposal, warning that it would no longer be business as usual from January 2024.

“We may have done things wrong in the past, but we cannot continue to live in the past and that is why we are redefining the future.

“Whatever it takes, we are going to ensure that this city is clean. So, I want to put all of us on notice that it may be difficult if you want to litter because we are not going to tolerate it. So, the change that you want to see has to begin with you,” he warned.

Otti announced that more of the newly reconstructed roads in Aba by his administration would be commissioned in January 2024. He further disclosed that work would commence by January on some of the very difficult but important roads in Aba, like the Obohia and Ohanku roads. “We are going to use solid pavement (cement) technology,” he announced as the crowd at the venue of the reception burst into applause and solidarity songs.

He reassured the citizens of his determination to use the resources of the state to work for her and vowed never to share the state’s money to individuals.

“If you have keyed into the vision of the government of the state; if what is important to you is the development of the state; if what is important to you is the welfare of the people; if what concerns you is that people finished working and they get their salary promptly before the month ends; if you are concerned about the payment of salary arrears; if you are concerned about treating our traditional rulers respectfully and giving them what is due to them; if what you are interested in is revamping our hospitals and ensuring that our schools are citadels of learning; if what you are interested in is that the roads are built and the money of the state is used judiciously, then you will not have a problem with us.

“But I can assure you that you will have a problem with us if you want us to start sharing money because I don’t have money to share. People’s money must be used to work for the people,” he emphasized.

Governor Otti, after the event, headed to Ngwa Road in Aba, where he commissioned the automated solar-powered street lights, recently installed on the over 3km road, switching on the lights one after the other as he walked.

He led the Speaker, Mayors of Aba North and South, Ide John Udeagbala and Uchechukwu Wogu, respectively; some House of Assembly members, the Chief of Staff Caleb Ajagba and many senior officials of the state government on the energy-sapping brisk walk, which lasted over 30 minutes, to commission the lights.

Residents jubilated as each of the lights came on to illuminate the road.