About 22 months after he became the Abia State Governor on May 29, 2023, Dr. Alex Otti still runs his office from his private residence/country home at Nvosi in Isiala Ngwa South Council, which is about 20 kilometers from Umuahia, the state capital.
Many, including some opposition political parties, have faulted him on this, citing that his predecessors had operated from the Umuahia Governor’s Office and Residence.
But when asked during his regular monthly chat with journalists when he will relocate to Umuahia, the governor responded, saying that upon assumption of duty, he found the state of the Umuahia Government House in disrepair and vandalization, which would take a large amount of money and time to reverse.
He said, “My decision to delay moving into the Government House was taken after I inspected both the Governor’s Lodge and Office and found them in terrible states of disrepair, vandalised, and looted. Renovating and retrofitting them require significant funds; hence, I considered it more urgent to channel those resources into infrastructure, security, health, environment, and education. The plan is that, in no distant time, since we are addressing those important areas, we will fix the Government House.
“I didn’t declare an emergency on the Government House and where the governor will live, and therefore did not consider the Governor’s Office and Residence as an immediate priority. Hence, I can operate from somewhere and later attend to them in due course, not just for this administration but for future governors.”
According to him, Abians want attention given to more pressing state needs and challenges. He maintains that where the governor stays is not as important as having roads in Aba, Umuahia, and other Local Government Areas in Abia State.
“It is not as important as ensuring that Aba and Umuahia, in particular, are kept clean on a 24-hour, seven-day basis. It is not as important as ensuring that our schools are fixed, which were the areas I declared a state of emergency on.”
