The Governor-Elect of Abia State, Mr Alex Otti of the Labour Party, has revealed his plans for Abia State that he will be working towards upon his inauguration as Governor of the State.
In an interview with ARISE NEWS on Thursday, Otti explained his plans to improve the economy of Abia State, stating that though the state is in debt, he has already started taking steps to eradicate the economic depression that is currently being faced in the state. He said that the government will have to take more loans, saying, “There is no problem with taking loans, the problem is what you do with the loans.”
He also expressed that the “payment of salaries is key,” and that he had already given himself a deadline.
This is due to the fact that the citizens of Abia State have had a backload of unpaid salaries from the previous government.
Otti stated that he has started to pick the people who will work with him for the job, as he claimed, “I have a knack for choosing the right people… every organization is only as good as its people.”
With this team, he has said that he will be focused on general restructuring, debt forgiveness where possible, and stimulating the economy, so as to generate revenue.
He stated that the main focus will not be on generating revenue instantly, but on gradually stimulating the economy in order to lead to growth and therefore, a greater generation of revenue.
When questioned on how he will be communicating with his opponents and his relationship with them going forward, Otti replied, “We have a lot to do, and we are not going to be distracted.”
He however, alluded to the fact that he had received congratulatory messages from most of his opponents, as well as a congratulatory message from the current governor of the state, Okezie Ikpeazu, who also appealed to the other candidates to let peace reign, and discouraged them from going to court, so that Alex Otti would not be distracted, and be able to focus on making Abia State a better place.
The governor-elect then expressed appreciation to the citizens of Abia state who came out to vote for him, and to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for putting measures in place to ensure a smooth running of elections through the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Alex Otti polled 175,467 votes, putting him ahead of Okey Ahiwe of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Progressives Party (YPP) who polled 88,529 votes and 28,972 votes respectively.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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