The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Sunday Dare, said the pace of infrastructure development under Governor Alex Otti has positioned Abia State as one of the states witnessing remarkable progress in critical sectors.
Mr Dare stated this on Wednesday when he, alongside the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, led members of the Renewed Hope Presidential Media Team on the tour of key federal and state projects across Abia. He described the ongoing projects in the state under Governor Otti’s administration as “impressive, restorative and transformational”.
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This is contained in a statement issued on Wednesday by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma.
The presidential aide particularly applauded the state’s well-thought-out investment in critical infrastructure, including the electrification project in Ohafia and ongoing road construction works across the state, noting that the current administration has demonstrated a strong commitment to reversing the trend of backwardness that characterised the state for many years, before Governor Otti came into office.
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Mr Dare cited the ongoing Abia airport project as an example of effective collaboration between the federal and state governments, described the relationship between the two tiers of government as commendable.
Earlier, while conducting the team around project sites, the Commissioner for Information in Abia, Okey Kanu and his works counterpart, Otumchere Oti, said the 67-kilometre Joe Irukwu Way, which was previously impassable, was entirely funded and constructed by the state government and has significantly improved connectivity across over 20 communities in that part of the state.
According to them, the road installed with end-to-end solar street lights, links numerous agrarian communities and mineral-producing areas to the state capital. They added that the state government has also intervened on several federal roads in the state, to improve accessibility to remote communities.
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Also speaking, the Commissioner for Lands in Abia, Chaka Chukwumerije, highlighted the significance of the Federal Housing Authority’s Renewed Hope Housing Estate project in Bende, describing it as one of the key federal interventions aimed at addressing housing needs in the state.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Ikechukwu Monday, disclosed that the state government is on the verge of restoring electricity to Ohafia communities that had been without power for eight years due to vandalism. He added that the state government has completed a 20-kilometre, 33KV power line from Ihechiowa in Arochukwu to Ebem, Ohafia, terminating at a newly installed 7.5MVA injection substation.
He added that the ministry is currently finishing the last-mile installations to restore power supply to the whole of Ohafia Local Government Area. He noted that the state government is almost finalising a transaction to acquire a majority stake in the Abia operations of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, which he said would enable the government to extend stable electricity to the remaining local government areas not covered by Geometric Power.
Impact of cordial relationship between Tinubu, Otti
In his contribution, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr Ekeoma, stated that the Joe Irukwu Way had been in a state of decay for almost two decades before the intervention by Governor Otti’s administration.
“Because the government understands the economic benefit of this road, it awarded the project to three construction companies, which worked simultaneously and delivered it in record time,” Mr Ekeoma said.
Mr Ekeoma described the relationship between Messrs Tinubu and Otti as “fantastic and people-oriented”. He said the cordial relationship between the two leaders is one of the reasons the state has been getting the nod of the federal government so easily before embarking on the execution of numerous federal projects in the state.
The delegation, comprising editors, senior journalists, media influencers and representatives of the federal government, visited several projects being executed under both the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Tinubu and the Abia State Government under Governor Otti.
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Projects inspected by the team include the 67-kilometre Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Akara-Abiriba Ohafia Road, renamed Joe Orukwu Way; the recently flagged-off Renewed Hope Housing Estate along Umuahia-Uzuakoli Road; the 30-kilometre Ozu-Abam-Ndiokereke-Amuvi Road in Arochukwu; and the 42-kilometre Ebem-Ohafia Road.
The delegation also visited the newly constructed Omenuko Bridge, the Renewed Hope Housing Estate at Onu-Inyang in Bende Local Government Area (which is currently under construction), the Nnenna Oti Multi Bus Terminal Umuahia, as well as the four-lane Dr Uma Ukpai Road project, a federal government project executed by the Otti administration.
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