– Completes 414 road projects, retrofits 277 hospitals, recruits 834 healthcare personnel, signs 4,000 CofOs
Boniface Okoro in Umuahia
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State says the trust of the people was the driving force behind the achievements his administration has recorded in the last three years.
The governor made the declaration Friday night during his May 2026 edition of his Monthly Media Chat tagged “Governor Alex Otti Speaks to Abians” held at Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia.
He attributed his administration’s achievements in infrastructure development, restoring dignity and improving the welfare of the people to the trust of Abians.
He said that today, Abians “have faith in what government says it will do,” and even if it fails to what it has promised, “they know that it is not a mistake of the heart.”
“We are glad that we are rebuilding trust in governance and government, delivering very tangible improvements in critical social and economic sectors of this state.
“So, without any fear of contradiction, we can say that we have restored the pride of our people, both home and abroad. It is not us that did it, it is your trust in us that helped us to collectively do it,” he said.
The governor, while thanking the people for their support, reiterated that his administration “is focused and determined” to continue “improving their welfare, restoring their dignity, developing the state, creating jobs and making life easier for everyone.”
Presenting a comprehensive sector-by-sector scorecard of his administration in the last three years, Otti said: “The most important part of this administration is the impact it has made in human capital development, infrastructure renewal, fiscal responsibility, social justice, all wrapped up in restoring the dignity of our people.”
Otti reported his administration has been able to restore relative security across all the 17 local governments of the state, stressing that Umunneochi LGA which was occupied by bandits and kidnappers prior to his assumption of office, has been liberated as the criminals have been flushed out.
According to him, civil servants and pensioners receive their salaries regularly, on the 28th day of every month, thus helping them to plan and manage their lives.
The governor announced the state has recovered a lot of stolen assets, especially from people who acquired them illegally, explaining that some of the cases were still in court.
“This government is very, very strict about government property,” he said, disclosing government has criminalised “appropriation of government property.”
He equally reported that the debt profile of the state has been reduced significantly by about 60 per cent, from about $191 billion in 2023, to less than $50 billion by 2025 ending,” attributing the feat to “fiscal sustainability, transparency and accountability.”
He told Abians that the state’s budget performance rankings has improved as Abia has moved from 17th in 2023 to 4th in 2025.
On road infrastructure, 414 roads, measuring about 864.12 kilometres were completed in the last three years, with street lights and drainages, he said.
Also, the governor said another 82 roads, measuring 212 kilometres were under construction.
The Direct Labourl Agency, he said, was set up for road maintenance and to implement the zero-pothole policy of government.
“In the health sector, 277 primary healthcare centres have been retrofitted: 200 by the state and 77 by the World Bank Impact Project, across the 184 wards of the state,’ he said, adding that 831 healthcare professionals have been hired in the last three years; 771 of them have assumed work while the remaining were at the last stages of their recruitment process.
Over 193,000 people have enrolled in the state health insurance scheme and were enjoying the benefits of the scheme, he revealed, among others.
He called on the people to participate actively in the events lined up to mark the third anniversary.
In the area of lands, Dr. Otti said, he has signed 4,707 Certificates of Occupancy, surpassing the numbers signed between 1999 and 2023.
He added that in collaboration with the UN Habitat, Abia has achieved digitization of land records, with about four million documents already scanned into the system.
He said this would help people to search and know whether the document they have is original or fake at the click of the button.
Meanwhile, celebration of the third anniversary of the Governor Otti administration commenced on Sunday with an inter-denominational Church Service.
The week-long celebration will also feature project commissioning ceremonies, flag-offs of strategic developmental projects, stakeholder engagements, tthanksgiving service, children’s activities, technology grants, sporting events, anniversary lecture, and a grand state banquet.
