![Femi Falana’s Visit to Governor Alex Otti in Abia [PHOTO CREDIT: @PrinceOkeyKanu]](https://i0.wp.com/media.premiumtimesng.com/wp-content/files/2025/10/G2zAdjrXQAAdr4l-e1760016139828.jpg?fit=1080%2C616&ssl=1)
Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, had said he is impressed with the way Governor Alex Otti of Abia State is tackling the development deficits in the south-eastern state.
Mr Falana stated this on Wednesday while speaking with reporters after visiting Mr Otti in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of Abia State.
|
|
Ferdinand Ekeoma, the special adviser on media and publicity to Mr Otti, posted a video clip of Mr Falana’s visit on Facebook.
“I have been coming here (Abia State) since the inauguration of civilian government in 1999, and I can say without any fear of contradiction that I have seen signs of governance which were not there before,” said the senior lawyer, who said he was in Abia for something else, but decided to stop over to see the governor.
|
|
|
|---|
He said he and Mr Otti used to be “comrades”, and it would have been improper if he had not informed the governor that he was in “his state”.
“I have gone around, seen good roads. I have seen good schools, hospitals,” Mr Falana said, adding that he also received “very positive comments” from Abia residents about Mr Otti’s administration.
He said he discussed with the governor how to intensify efforts and ensure that the people remain the centre of his administration.
“The people must benefit from the dividends of democracy, and that is the best measurement (of good governance).
“I am very confident that the governor can do much more than he has done. He owes some of us a duty to ensure he does not disappoint the people. Some of us will not spare him if he disappoints the people,” Mr Falana said.
Mr Otti’s clean-up of Aba, Abia’s commercial hub, which was previously considered one of Nigeria’s dirtiest cities, and his rapid building of roads and other infrastructure in the state have endeared him to many across party lines – Labour Party is the ruling party in Abia, while the APC rules at the centre.
A few days ago, the governor, while accompanying President Bola Tinubu to inaugurate the age-long collapsed 6.7 km Port Harcourt Road, Aba, reconstructed into a three-lane carriageway by his (Otti’s) administration, said Aba was bouncing back to greatness.
Mr Tinubu, represented by the Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, inaugurated seven other roads in Aba – Ohanku Road, Ndoki Road, Ajiwe Street, Umuatako Road, Chief Nkoro Street, Gabriel Nwosu Street and Pepples Road.
Mr Tinubu recalled the deplorable and impassable nature of Port Harcourt Road before the intervention of Governor Otti, describing the reconstruction of the road as “a testament of true democracy dividends”.
Deputy speaker, House of Reps, criticises Otti
However, despite the praises for Mr Otti, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Benjamin Kalu, who is from Abia, recently said that the governor’s achievements were not commensurate with the funds received from the federation account.
“You cannot be getting the kind of money you are getting and you are doing the job that former governors were doing with the less they were getting.
“The former governors got N4 billion, N5 billion. But today, Tinubu releases N38 billion, N40 billion every month,” Mr Kalu, a member of the ruling APC, said on Sunday while addressing some APC supporters at the Abia Hotels, Umuahia.
He added that the APC would take over the state from Governor Otti’s Labour Party in the 2027 elections.
Mr Kalu, who represents Bende Federal Constituency of Abia State in the House of Representatives, has repeatedly spoken of his ambition to become Abia governor.
What we received from FAAC – Abia govt
The Abia State Government, reacting to Mr Kalu’s remarks, said on Monday that it has received from the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) N125 billion so far for eight months in 2025, including the allocation to the local councils in the state.
“If we were to go by Kalu’s false claim of a monthly sum of N38billion, it would have stood at N304billion,” the government said. “Should a deputy speaker of a federal legislature be associated with such bare-faced lies?”
Mr Ekeoma, the media aide to Governor Otti, issued the statement on behalf of the Abia State Government.
“As at April 2023, a few days before Governor Alex Otti assumed office, the exchange rate stood at N460 to the dollar. At the present rate of N1,500 to the dollar, N3.2billion today is equivalent of N1billion in 2023. Given that Nigeria is import dependent, the devaluation has seen states gain in nominal terms, but very little in real terms, because key projects are executed with items and equipment whose components are acquired in foreign currency. This is why a road project that was built with N1 billion in 2022 would cost close to N4 billion today. If inflation is factored in at an average rate of 20% per annum, the situation would further exacerbate.
“Prior to Governor Alex Otti’s assumption of office, minimum wage being paid in Abia was N30,000 and this was only going to those classified as Core Civil Servants. Today, minimum wage stands at between N70,000 to N74,000. Kalu’s limited knowledge of financial matters and the economy obviously deprived him of the requisite information and facts that could help him when confusion sets in. Couldn’t he have sought help instead of disgracing himself the way he did?”
The Abia State Government advised Mr Kalu to wait for an appropriate time to launch his governorship bid.
“What he is displaying for now is sheer ignorance and rascality as he keeps boasting about 2027 to the point of resorting to incoherent submissions and mendacious fabrications targeted at the government.
“We advise that to take on this government on numbers, you must be financially literate.”
The Abia Labour Party House of Representatives Caucus weighed in on the issue, cautioning Mr Kalu, to desist from inciting the federal government and the ruling APC against the Abia State Government, so as not to be “at odds with Ndi Abia”.
The lawmakers said Mr Kalu was peddling falsehoods to discredit Mr Otti’s administration.
“Governor Otti enjoys a cordial relationship with Mr President, and no amount of political scheming by Honorable Kalu can disrupt Abia’s steady progress,” the lawmaker said.
Discover more from Premium Times Nigeria
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
