By Uche Aguoru


It sounds unreasonable that Governor Otti is pulling down the Abia Lodge in Abuja, which he has budgeted to rebuild at an exorbitant cost of N8.5 billion,  it is even more disturbing that he has announced the demolition of the newly built Government House, Umuahia. 



While some of his aides and uninformed supporters may want to offer some blind support for the governor's illogical action, the fact is that his administration has become eerily consistent with financial recklessness, plundering, and straight-out of the kleptocratic playbook that his administration has come to be identified with. 



Governments across the nation are working seriously hard to reduce expenditure by prioritizing only projects that impact directly on the improvement of people's living standards and welfare, I am at a loss on what Gov Otti wants to achieve by destroying a building that its integrity is still intact and standing and only recently refurbished and retrofitted with modern facilities and standards?


Abia under Otti has the infamous reputation of running the most expensive government East of the Niger at the same time, the citizens descend into poverty on a daily, while the majority of the residents cannot afford one decent meal a day, and the health facilities have been left in  dilapidation with unemployment and crime hitting an all-time high.


 It's concerning that a Governor, who has openly complained that the civil service payroll is still very huge and the reason he has significantly cut down the salaries of civil servants through unexplained taxes and has been unable to meet up with salaries of agencies, parastatals, and also forcing pensioners to forgo their pensions and entitlements while seriously considering further reduction of the state workforce after the initial sack of close to 20,000 Abians, even after a very huge improvement in the monthly allocation from the federation accounts is prioritizing the building of a new lodge in Abuja over the immediate needs at home.


The Lodge in Abuja was built by the Orji Kalu's government and has been maintained and kept standard and modern by preceding administrations, building a new lodge with N8billion  when the citizens are facing severe hunger and poverty shouldn't be considered an immediate need especially when the Primary Health centers are non-functional, and primary and secondary school infrastructures are dilapidated and seeking immediate attention. 


This decision has proven that Governor Alex Otti lacks compassion, empathy, and prudence in the management of State resources, and he is unwilling to shun self-aggrandizement and greed or sacrifice personal comfort and his profligate lifestyle for people's welfare. 


With rising insecurity, poverty, and hunger in Abia, this decision highlights the disconnect between the government and the people. It is unacceptable and the people are demanding a more prudent and compassionate use of resources and priority for people's livelihood and welfare.


Gov.  Otti, it's time to stop this greed,  impunity, insensitivity, and waste of taxpayers' resources and refocus on the needs of the hungry and suffering Abians. 


Aguoru is A Public Affairs Analyst