Dr. Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, has spoken up on why he was still carrying out his duties as the governor of the state from his private residence in Isiala, Ngwa South Local Government Area of the state.
Otti had come under severe criticisms by the opposition parties in the state over the choice of his private residence as his duty post as the governor of the state.
But Otti, responding to a question on why he has been working from his private home instead of renovating and retrofitting the Government House in Umuahia, lamented the high level of looting by appointees of the immediate past administration, which he said had rendered the facility unusable.
Governor Otti insisted that he was more concerned about delivering democracy dividends to Abians than where he operates from.
He said: “You are worried that I am not operating from here. I don’t think you should worry about that. The important thing is that I am operating.
“Abians want to see activities; not where their governor is staying. Where I live is not as important as having roads in Aba and Umuahia and other local government areas in Abia State.
“It is not as important as ensuring that Aba and Umuahia particularly are kept clean on a 24-hour, seven-day basis. It is not as important as ensuring that our people have good hospitals to go to.
“It is not as important as ensuring that our schools are fixed.
“Those were the areas I declared a state of emergency. I didn’t declare emergency on Government House and where the governor will live.
“So, what the issue is, is that this Government House is important but not as important as some of the things that I mentioned earlier.”
The governor further explained that his decision to delay moving into the Government House was based on careful resource allocation, and reassured Abians that the state’s seat of power would be fixed in due course, not just for his administration but for future governors.
He added: “When I inspected both the Governor’s Lodge and the Governor’s Office, they were in terrible states of disrepair, vandalized and looted.
“Renovating them requires significant funds, but I considered it more urgent to channel those resources into infrastructure, security, health, environment and education.
“I can assure you that in no distant time, since we have taken care of those important areas, we’ll come here (Government House) and fix it.”
