By Steve Oko
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has assured that his earlier promise to clear pension arrears of Abia retirees before the end of December ” still stands”.
Otti had during his inaugural speech vowed to wipe off pension arrears by December, and also at different fora, reiterated the resolve.
The Governor who gave the assurance during a media parley on Friday night, told pensioners in the state to take him by his words, saying that the promise is a bond.
“My promise to clear, pension arrears by the end of this month still stands. Whatever it takes, we want to take it down so that by 2024 we start on a clean slate “, Otti assured.
Otti who explained that his emergence as Governor was to alleviate the burden of the people also promised that his administration would give adequate attention to the welfare of workers.
He said he was engaging the necessary stakeholders intending to mitigate the plights of workers in the face of the biting economic hardship following the removal of fuel subsidy.
” An announcement will be made in the weeks ahead in this regard “, the Governor added.
On the allegation by some members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, that he abandoned the multi-billion New Government House only to operate from his private residence, Gov. Otti said they were intimidated by his achievements so far, and resorted to blackmail.
He further explained that he decided to operate from his private residence to save cost for the state as neither the Old nor New Government House was habitable.
Responding to a question on why he appointed bourgeoisie as Mayors for Local Government Areas in the state, Otti said it was to trigger healthy competition for development among the Councils.
He assured that the Ukwa West Industrial Park flagged off recently by his administration would not go the way of the much-talked-about Enyimba Economic City that was highly promoted by his predecessor but never saw the light of day.
The Governor hinted that already, a Chinese investor and a local investor had shown readiness to invest 6 million US dollars in a modular refinery in the park.
He said he was intentional in creating the enabling environment for business to thrive in Abia both for foreign investors and Abians who might wish to relocate home following the demolition of shops in parts of the country.
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