Pix of Abia State Commissioner for Information and information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu
One year in office: Otti to hold Town-Hall meetings, inaugurate roads, JAAC building
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
Pix of Abia State Commissioner for Information and information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu
All is set for the inauguration of seven road projects, the multi-billion naira JAAC building and holding of town hall meetings by Governor Alex Otti, as part of activities to mark the one year anniversary of his administration in Abia State.
Five of the roads for inauguration located in the commercial city of Aba are University Road, Green Avenue, College Road, Kent by Ehi Road and Old Court Road.
Commissioner for Information and Culture, Prince Okey Kanu, while briefing newsmen on the outcome of this week’s State Executive Council meeting on Monday at Government House, Umuahia, also said that one of the signature road projects of the Otti administration, Ossah Road, in Umuahia, would also be inaugurated.
Ossah road, a previously four-lane major entry route into the Abia State capital from the Enugu -Port Harcourt expressway, was expanded to six-lanes by the Otti administration.
Governor Otti, on Wednesday, September 27, 2023, flagged off the 3.5 kilometre Ossah road expansion project which terminated at Okpara Square in Umuahia metropolis, after government had paid hundreds of millions of naira in compensation to about 200 landlords whose property were demolished to give way for the project, with a promise that it would be delivered in six months.
“Of course, you know that commissioning Ossah Road by next week is in keeping with the promise that His Excellency made while flagging of that road expansion project,” Kanu said.
Another road due for inauguration in Umuahia is the Dozieway, a dual carriageway road built by the Theodore Orji-administration but dilapidated to a level it became unmotorable for years and was rehabilitated by the Otti-led administration through direct labour.
Another project ready for commissioning is the multi-billion naira Joint Allocation Account Committee (JAAC), also started by the T.A.Orji administration and remained uncompleted throughout the Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu-led administration, leaving the Otti administration to sink, in the meantime, N1.5 billion to complete the four-storey building at Ogurube Layout, close to the state sectetariat.
A feedback mechanism designed for the Governor to feel the pulse of the ordinary people would see Otti interact with Abians at the grassroots through zonal town hall meetings.
The town hall engagements would commence this Thursday, September 23, 2024 in Abia North where the people of the zone would gather at the Pavilion, Ohafia; while the people of Abia Central would converge on Umuahia on Friday, September 24, 2024, for their encounter with the Governor. People of Abia Central Senatorial Zone would take their turn in Aba on Tuesday, September 28, 2024, at Recreation Club.
Other activities include the visit to destitute homes and the vulnerable by Abia’s First Lady, Mrs Priscilla Otti, on Saturday, September 25, which would be followed by a Thanksgiving Service on Sunday, September 26, 2024 and anniversary Executive Council meeting on Monday, September 27, 2024.
The one year in office activities would be capped by a statewide television and radio early morning broadcast on Wednesday, September 29, 2024, and a banquet at Government House, Umuahia at sundown same day.
