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From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
Governor Alex Otti has assured the people of the state that the years of sharing their money with the so-called stakeholders in the state are over.
He said rather he would deploy the state’s funds to work for and better the lives of the people.
Otti who made this known during the median edition of his monthly media chat with Journalists in Umuahia, said, “It’s all about deploying money to work for Abia people; gone are the days when monies are shared. We now have the Abia State Orientation Agency and the whole idea is for people to begin to think and see life differently. People have been used to doing things the wrong way in Abia.”
He disclosed that the sum of N771m was spent for payment of compensation to owners of 130 structures marked for demolition to enable the expansion of Okpara Square – Ossah Road in Umuahia.
The governor informed that three other roads have been awarded to contractors in Aba, bringing the total number of roads his administration awarded in the commercial city to 11.
The roads according to the governor are Penco Avenue, Omuma and Clifford Roads, assuring that Port Harcourt Road was not forgotten, as he promised that something would happen on the road in a few weeks’ time.
“With the little resources the state gets, our government will improve on infrastructure as we can, and our people will continue to see the changes in the coming weeks.
“Our government is making efforts to ensure that our people have adequate security with the procurement of Hilux vehicles and engagement of various security agencies in the team code-named “Operation Flush.”
Dispelling the rumour that N500bn has accrued to Abia State since the inception of his administration, Otti said journalists can always have access to any information they want as regards the allocation that comes into the state and the amount paid for any contract given, instead of believing speculations.
“There’s no problem with transparency, the information is in the public domain. I cannot stay here and throw figures in the air, there’s nothing we are doing here that is hidden. If such money comes in, what did they (previous administration) do with the money?”
While welcoming criticisms from the opposition political parties, Otti insisted that Abia people were now wiser and would judge what his administration has offered in the past four months from what was on the ground 24 years back.
He assured that Local Government election would be conducted in the state, but that Transition Committee Chairmen would first be appointed to take care of administrative activities pending the election.
“The transition committee will lead to the local government election, we don’t have the timetable yet.”
He promised to use the security vote for what it was meant for and would not be used for other purposes.
