Gov. Alex Otti of Abia State says, he has no plans to leave his party, the Labour Party to any other, especially the All Progressives Congress, APC, this was even as he also affirmed that he has no plans to retrenchment any worker within the State’s Civil service.
Otti’s clearance on his position in the oarty was following the statement credited to the Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives, Ben Kalu that Otti will be the last Labour Party governor in Abia State.
Otti explained this Friday on the occasion of his September media chat with the press, stating, “I chose not to respond to it for a simple reason. It will be foolhardy of me to be talking about what will happen tomorrow because it is my belief is that power belongs to God. He gives it to who He wills. So. I am actually not competent to sit here and be telling you what will happen in 2027. I do not subscribe to playing God and that is why I do not have any answer to anybody who says this (or that) will happen in 2027”.
Otti also used the occasion to explain his reason for the convocation of LP NEC/Stakeholders meeting in Umuahia and the decision of the embattled LP National Chairman, Julius Abure to set up a disciplinary committee to punish erring members, including him, stating, “on if it is possible to restore peace, my answer is yes and as a matter of fact, the meeting you referred to was in a bid to restore peace in the party.
“If you followed, you would also noticed that majority of Labour Party members are happy with the intervention that we made here. There may be one or two people whose personal or private interest are going to be affected by this decision, but the party is about the majority of the people”.
He used the opportunity to respond to what he said few people are saying: “I believed that what we did was in the interest of the party and it was a better decision than to have the party go into a conflagration with the electoral authority and everybody else and at the end of the day, the party may disappear. So, we have a vested interest in ensuring that the party continues to operate as a political party in Nigeria through that decision to call that meeting. I have also been supported by a wide majority of our people.
“I believe that peace will return to that party. If you are used to snakes, whenever you cut off the head, it will not just calmly take its leave, it will be turning around and wrangling, but at the end of the day, whatever will happen, will happen. I don’t think we should lose sleep over people going on media platforms or other platforms to set up a disciplinary committees, but so far, we have received no summons”.
Earlier in his opening remarks, Otti assured Abians. “we will continue to drive the affairs of the government in the interest of the masses and the generality of Abians”, on roads and road infrastructure, education health and others, stating, “we will not rest on our oars. As at the last count, we have fixed a total of 108 roads by direct Labour.
“On health we will continue to push the frontiers”, adding that the Amachara General Hospital has received another boost with the opening of an eye centre that attracted over 600 patients the first day, while the government has started with the upgrading of the Abia State Teaching Hospital which lost its accreditation for three consecutive years, but restored in December, 2023.
He said retrofitting of other parts is the next phase in the hospital as well as retrofitting about 200 primary healthcare centres across 184 wards in the state with a target of delivering them in 100 days, while the General Hospitals are also receiving face lift, confirming that the state has approved two isolation centres in the state – in Umuahia and in Aba”. He added that the state will also replicate the eye centres in other zones of the state.
In education the governor said, his administration is working very hard to deal with skills, that is the teachers and has started a program of traing them, having identified 2000 of them, having engaged consultants who has started traing about 200, while the rest of1800 will also be trained to train other teachers.
The governor however, expressed his displeasure on the information on extortion of money from students of Abia State University, Uturu by lecturers and called for official complaints, stating, “It is not allowed, but is something we should friwn about”.
On environment, Otti said his government is not reacting on its oars, but at a point of evaluating companies that will start turning waste in wealth, while also informing that he did a minor restructuring of the ministries as new ones were created and new Commissioners appointed, “to ensure we get traction in the business of governance”.
The governor also reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to enhancing the state Civil Service for optimal performance and productivity, noting that the timely payment of salaries has already contributed to greater efficiency.
According to him, “I don’t know where that is coming from. There is nothing mass retrenchment. We’ve not even thought about it. There’s nothing in the pipeline. Like I said, we don’t have any such plans. We will continue to ensure that our civil service is enhanced and productivity goes up particularly now that before the end of every month, they (civil servants) get paid so there is no excuse for truancy anymore”.
He attributed fear of retrenchment among workers to guilt stemming from poor work habits, and warned civil servants accustomed to absenteeism that truancy would no longer be tolerated under the present administration, adding, “People who were used to not going to work, we told them to know that our administration does not tolerate truancy and so if they are afraid, maybe, they are guilty. There’s no mass retrenchment in the pipeline”.
The Governor, while addressing the issue of disengaged workers in the state civil service due to non-indigeneship under former administrations in the state, expressed his satisfaction that a number of those affected have been re-engaged, revealed further that his administration is currently reviewing the cases of the remaining few disengaged workers, with the aim of reintegrating them into the state workforce.
The Abia State chief executive underscored his commitment to a non-discriminatory government, stressing that everyone, regardless of their place of origin, who contributes to the state would be treated equally, adding, “As a person, I believe that people should not be judged or should not be treated fairly or unfairly based on where they come from and that is why in our administration, there are people who do not come from this state that have been given appointments.
“The reason is simple; once you live in Abia, you are from Abia, that is our own principle. You live here, you pay your tax here, you are involved in everything that we are doing, then we must treat you as part of us. This is a government that does not discriminate.
“As a policy, I treat people equally, even if you’re from the North and you live here. It is on that basics that I say, anybody who was disengaged because of where they come from, we are looking at their cases. As we speak, we are looking at those few cases, they‘re not much. There is not much we can do about those who are not here with us (deceased) but those with us, we will look at their cases positively”, the Governor noted.
While recalling what he has done in many sectors of the state economy, expressed his surprise over an information that the Abia State University, Uturu lecturers and extorting money from the students, as well as in Abia State Passenger Integrated Manifest Safety Scheme. ASPIMSS staff are owed salaries, even after verification and assured of handling the matters.
