Abia State Governor, Alex Otti says, he has planned to commence the construction of an ecumenical centre in Umuahia, which is a personal project he would be privately funding without any financial contribution from the state government.
Otti disclosed this during an interdenominational thanksgiving service to commemorate the third anniversary of his administration, stating this is to fulfill his vow to God.
Otti noted that he had already provided the land for the project and that the land was acquired by him in 2009 long before he became Governor, adding, “we vowed that we are going to build an ecumenical centre in Umuahia for God.
“The ecumenical centre is not going to be built with government money. No dime from the state government will go into it”.
He reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to serving God and fulfilling promises made to the people at the inception of his administration.
He stated that, upon assumption of office, his administration rededicated the state to God and made vows that he would ensure that divine guidance would be his watchword.
“We started by taking the state to God in prayers and rededicated the state immediately after we were sworn in,” Gov. Otti stated.
Earlier in his sermon titled “Where There is no Vision the People Perish”, the President of Living Word Ministries International, Dr Emma Okorie, described the Governor as a “God-sent” on a mission to deliver the people of Abia.
Dr. Okorie, who took his text from Exodus 3:1-10, said that the Israelites had spent long years under bondage in Egypt and God sent Moses to deliver them after they cried out to God. He likened it to the case of Abia which had undergone sufferings and setbacks in the past 24 years as a result of having people without vision on the saddle of leadership.
The emergence of Otti, he said, is a sign that God heard the cry of the people of Abia and sent him to deliver them from their challenges.
Also, speaking the Catholic Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Umuahia, Most Rev. Dr Michael Ukpong, and the Archbishop of Methodist Church Nigeria Umuahia Archdiocese Most Rev Dr. Chibuzor Opoko exrolled the virtues of Otti, advising him, “do not allow anything to distract you from the good works you are doing. The prayers of the people will continue to be with you,”
Flagging-Off the construction of the 1,000 capacity ecumenical centre in Umuagu, in Umuahia capital city, Otti said the ecumenical centre being built for the Christian community in Abia State as a fulfillment of promise he had made before his election in 2023.
