My govt’ ll mark a departure from traditional form of governance in Abia – Otti

From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia

New Abia Governor, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, has promised that the coming on board of his administration would mark a departure from the hitherto traditional form of governance in the state.

Otti made the promise while receiving the Handover Note from his predecessor, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, at Banquet Hall, Government House, Umuahia in the early morning of Monday, May 29, 2023, shortly before his swearing proper.

“I want to thank God that today is marking a departure from traditional form of governance. Abians will see something new. This is not the time for too much rhetoric. But like the representative of the outgoing Governor, the former Secretary to the State Government, Chris Ezem, said, ‘Abia is definitely in good hands and the signs are everywhere.”

Otti who was represented during the brief handover ceremony by Dr. Caleb Ajagba, said the documents handed over to the incoming administration would be critically studied and things found relevant and appropriate would be adopted, expressing hope that information contained in the documents would equip the incoming administration with knowledge that would enable to hit the ground running.

Receiving the documents, Ajagba said: Dr Alex will not take for granted the enormous goodwill that is pervading the atmosphere. He quite well understands the needs and expectations of Abians. The expectations are very high and understandably so.

“I believe that from day one, he will settle down to give Abians good governance and I believe that what you have documented in these materials that you have made available would be able to enrich the knowledge of the incoming administration as to the state of things, why things have remained the way they are in Abia and, of course, that creates a good platform for the incoming administration to hit the ground running.”

He added: “On behalf of the incoming governor, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, the truth is that government and governance is a continuum and it must be understood within this context, irrespective of the political party that is leaving the stage or coming on stage.

“All these documents you have made available to incoming Governor would be studied critically and we want to assure Abians that things that we find relevant and appropriate would be adopted by the government of Dr. Alex Otti.

“At this stage we want to thank the Transition Council that coordinated this handover, both from the outgoing administration and the incoming administration. …

“On behalf of Dr Alex Otti, the incoming Governor, on behalf of Prof. Ken Kalu and Rev. Dr. Chris Anokwuru, we have to thank you so much and assure you that everything would be done the right way. The administration will be very transparent.”

Handing over the documents, the former SSG, Ezem, who stood in for Ikpeazu, remarked that the eight years administration of Ikpeazu has come to an end. On behalf of my boss, the outgoing Governor, I want to welcome our brother, Dr. Caleb Agbaja who is representing the incoming Governor,” Ezem said, adding, “I want to handover the critical government documents to the representative of the incoming Governor.

“You will find here one, in any administration, the budget document is a very critical document. This is the budget document for 2023. It was done to cover 2021 to 2023 and that is the operating budget we are using and this is a critical document for the incoming administration. You will agree with me that you must drive governance through budget.

“Secondly, one of the greatest legacies of this government where I doubled as Secretary to Government is that we took our time to draw up a 30-year development plan which captured all aspects of Abia. It’s run through the grassroots, through the corporate bodies, through the Ministries with inputs from far and near and all critical parts of government. At the end of the day, we had this laudable document called Abia Long Term Development Plan (2020 – 2050). This document, I believe will go a long way as a working document for the incoming government.

“Finally, we have taken out time to put together, the Handover Note, which cuts across all the activities of government for eight years and embodies inputs from all the ministries, parastatals and agencies within the state.

“They have been carefully put together and binded. This is the Handover Note from Okezie Ikpeazu to Otti

“I know that by this, I will say that Abia State is now in the hands of Dr. Alex Chioma Otti and we believe that Abia is in safe hands.”

The documents handed over to the incoming Governor were The Budget Documents For 2023, The Abia State Long Term Development Plan and The State Government Handover Note.

The handover ceremony was witnessed by the Permanent Secretary, Government House, Umuahia, Mr Iheanyi Ubani. Rev. Fr. Anthony Anokwuru and Professor Ken Kalu.