Abia State is Making Big Strides Under Otti, Says Media Team

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said the speed of infrastructure development under Governor Alex Otti has made Abia State one of the states seeing big improvements in important areas.

Mr Dare said this on Wednesday when he, along with the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, led members of the Renewed Hope Presidential Media Team to visit key federal and state projects in Abia. He called the ongoing projects in the state under Governor Otti’s leadership "impressive, restorative and transformational".

This information is from a statement released on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma.

The presidential aide praised the state’s smart investment in important infrastructure. He mentioned the electrification project in Ohafia and ongoing road construction across the state. He said the current administration is working hard to change the backwardness that affected the state for many years before Governor Otti took over.

Mr Dare highlighted the ongoing Abia airport project as a good example of teamwork between the federal and state governments. He called the relationship between the two levels of government commendable.

While showing the team around project sites, the Commissioner for Information in Abia, Okey Kanu, and the Commissioner for Works, Otumchere Oti, said the 67-kilometre Joe Irukwu Way was once unusable. They said the state government fully funded and built it, improving connections across more than 20 communities in that area.

According to them, the road has solar street lights from end to end. It links many farming communities and mineral areas to the state capital. They also mentioned that the state government has fixed several federal roads to make remote areas more accessible.

The Commissioner for Lands in Abia, Chaka Chukwumerije, talked about the importance of the Federal Housing Authority’s Renewed Hope Housing Estate project in Bende. He said it is one of the key federal efforts to meet housing needs in the state.

Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, said the state government is close to bringing back electricity to Ohafia communities that have been without power for eight years due to vandalism. He mentioned that they have built a 20-kilometre, 33KV power line from Ihechiowa in Arochukwu to Ebem, Ohafia, ending at a new 7.5MVA injection substation.

He added that the ministry is finishing the last steps to restore power supply to all of Ohafia Local Government Area. He noted that the state government is also close to securing a majority stake in the Abia operations of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company. This would help provide stable electricity to the remaining local government areas not served by Geometric Power.

In his remarks, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr Ekeoma, said the Joe Irukwu Way had been in bad shape for nearly two decades before Governor Otti’s administration intervened.

"The government understands the economic value of this road. It awarded the project to three construction companies, which worked at the same time and finished it quickly," Mr Ekeoma said.

Mr Ekeoma described the relationship between Messrs Tinubu and Otti as "fantastic and people-oriented". He said the good relationship between the two leaders is one reason the state has been able to receive support from the federal government smoothly for various projects.

The delegation included editors, senior journalists, media influencers, and federal government representatives. They visited several projects under both the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu and the Abia State Government under Governor Otti.

Projects visited by the team included the 67-kilometre Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Akara-Abiriba Ohafia Road, now called Joe Irukwu Way; the recently launched Renewed Hope Housing Estate along Umuahia-Uzuakoli Road; the 30-kilometre Ozu-Abam-Ndiokereke-Amuvi Road in Arochukwu; and the 42-kilometre Ebem-Ohafia Road.

The delegation also checked out the newly built Omenuko Bridge, the Renewed Hope Housing Estate at Onu-Inyang in Bende Local Government Area (currently under construction), the Nnenna Oti Multi Bus Terminal Umuahia, and the four-lane Dr Uma Ukpai Road project, which is a federal government project carried out by the Otti administration.