Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti has mandated his appointees and heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of the State Government to develop robust training and capacity building programmes for their establishments.

Governor Otti also mandated the Chief Strategy Officer and the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission to work out a template for the training of 1,000 young people between the ages of 16 to 20 on leadership capacity development, character building and self-discovery outside the academic environment.

The Governor handed down the directives at the International Conference Centre (ICC), Umuahia, during the closing ceremony of the 2025 Abia State Quarter 2 Executive Council Strategy Retreat.

According to Governor Otti, one central takeaway from the retreat is the importance of training and mentorship which supports individuals to become better versions of themselves, so as to become better employees and subordinates.

“To that effect, all Commissioners and heads of MDAs are directed to develop robust training and capacity building programmes for their establishments.

“Critical learning areas such as ICT, communication, stakeholder management and value creation in line with the peculiar mandates of the individuals and MDAs should be incorporated.

“Nobody should be left behind and any staff who fails to participate should be reprimanded.

“Clear metrics of assessment are to be developed and outcomes used as part of the relevant criteria for assigning official responsibilities. I expect to get periodic reports on this from various MDAs,” the Governor instructed.

“The Chief Strategy Officer and the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission are hereby mandated to work out a suitable template for the training of 1,000 young people between the ages of 16 to 20 on leadership capacity development, character building and self-discovery, outside the academic environment.

“Training and mentorship programmes will also be extended to young graduates from senior secondary schools and institutions of higher learning,” Gov. Otti stated.

Governor Otti announced that the State Government would establish an academy to facilitate scheduled training for government employees and announced plans to extend mentorship and capacity – building initiatives to young people in Secondary Schools and Tertiary Institutions across the State.

“The young people’s training should be made to happen between the first week of August and the second week of September. And this is when the students are expected to be on vacation.

“They should also be institutionalised, conducted periodically, and properly certificated.

“The programme should be structured to transform the minds of the young leaders, expose them to new thinking, and prepare them for the tasks of leadership and service in communities in due course,” Gov. Otti stated.

The State Chief Executive, who appreciated the consultants and resource persons who anchored the various sessions of the retreat, particularly, the leadership and members of the Abia Global Economic Advisory Council, also thanked the organisers of the retreat.

He stressed the need for the participants to apply the knowledge gained from the retreat to improve on their performances and said that, knowledge is nothing until it is applied to achieve superior outcomes.

The curtains of the Abia State Government 2025 Quarter 2 Executive Council Strategy Retreat was drawn to a close as participants expressed satisfaction with the quality of the training and the windows it offered to interact with members of the Abia Global Economic Advisory Council.

Ctz. UKOHA NJOKU UKOHA
Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia State, Government House, Umuahia.

Says he’s still a member of the Labour Party
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‎Abia State Governor Dr. Alex Otti says his administration would only borrow for investments when the need arises and not for consumption, making it clear that the State is yet to borrow in the last 2 years and a month that he has presided over the affairs of the State.
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‎Governor Otti made this known on Tuesday, 1st July, during the welcome dinner organized by the Abia State Government for the Abia State Global Economic Advisory Council, ushering in the beginning of the 2025 mid-year retreat for the appointees of the Government.
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‎The Governor was reacting to false claims of the opposition that he has been borrowing to run the State, drawing their attention to the recently published Debt profile report by the Debt Management Office (DMO), a Federal Agency that put Abia first among the States that reduced their debts between March 2024 and March 2025. According to the DMO report, within the period under review, Abia reduced its public debt exposure by 57.20%, the highest reduction across the country.
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‎“There is nothing wrong with criticizing the Government, but you must criticize with facts. Opinions are free but facts are sacred.

‎“Some people have come out to say that we are borrowing, they are lying. Did I borrow from them? I saw a report yesterday that says that 26 out of the 36 States have actually reduced loans in the last 12 months and Abia came first, having reduced its debt profile by 57.20% in one year,” Dr. Otti disclosed amidst applause from the audience.
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‎Speaking further, he said, “So, when we say we have not borrowed, we know what we are talking about. But that we have not borrowed doesn’t mean we will not borrow. We will borrow when we need to borrow. We will borrow for investments that are regenerative. We will not borrow to eat. We will not borrow to consume. We will borrow for capital expenditure,” the Governor asserted.
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‎The Governor addressed the speculations and reports emanating from some quarters that he was planning to join the APC or the coalition currently being formed by some opposition elements in the country, stating clearly that he is still a member of the labour with the Supreme Court having resolved the crisis that threatened the survival of the party.
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‎“I will just spend a few minutes talking about what some members of the Global Economic Council have been asking me. One of them is the report about 5 Governors decamping to APC… I’m still a member of the Labour Party and I’m not looking for where to decamp to.

‎“The second point is about coalition, and a lot of people have been asking me, are you a member of the coalition? And, my response is, have you seen my name? Have you seen me attending the coalition meeting?
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‎“We are just busy doing the work that Abia people have given us. So, we are not attending any coalition meeting, I have not attended any one and nobody has invited me.
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‎“I am happy where I am. Yes, we had issues, if you don’t have issues, you are dead… So, you wake up and there is one problem or the other, you solve the problem. You don’t run away from a problem and pretend to have solved it.
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‎“When we had our problems, we fought all the way to the Supreme Court and retrieved our party at the Supreme Court. I believe that a few issues that remain would be resolved very soon because the Supreme Court Judgment was very, very clear,” Governor Otti assured.
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‎The State Chief Executive disclosed that his administration came to do things right, stressing that, those who don’t want to do things right have no business in his Government. He warned those making noise about stomach infrastructure that Abians are not people who believe in handouts but hard – working people who just need the enabling environment, like good roads, clean environment, etc, to thrive in their businesses and daily endeavours.
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‎Speaking further he said that making portable water available to the people is the next thing his administration is dealing with. “We want to get to that level where you open your tap and you have public water running. In the next few weeks, we are going to flag off the water project in Aba around CKC. There is also another one in Umuahia and a lot of other places. We will get there,” the Governor added.
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‎Dr. Otti also disclosed that his administration has set up a Project Implementation Bureau, headed by an Abia son, Mr. Onyinye Nwosu, who left his job in Canada, where he was working with General Electric (GE), to contribute his quota for the growth and development of the State.
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‎Governor Otti thanked Members of the 20-Member Advisory Council for their sacrificial support and contributions which have helped his administration record the achievements being celebrated within and beyond the State in the last 2 years.

‎“I want to thank everyone who contributed, particularly, the Council; anyhow you look at it, everything revolves round the economy… If you get your economy right, every other thing will fall in place.

‎“That’s why we went over and beyond to convince these 20 eggheads who are otherwise busy to guide us and we are lucky that they accepted. And, from all indications, they’ve been here for one year. They meet every quarter or when the need arises, to come up with ideas, download them and ours is just to implement,” the Governor stated.
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‎Earlier in her speech on behalf of the Council, the Co-Chair of the Abia Global Economic Advisory Council, Prof. Ms. Arunma Oteh, said that it was an absolute pleasure to serve in the Economic Advisory Council and an absolute pleasure to see and be part of what has been achieved in Abia. She further stated that Abia is now truly the number one, not just in alphabet but also in performance.
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‎In his vote of thanks, the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Kenneth Kalu thanked the members of the Council for their sacrifices to help the administration succeed. He explained that the good thing about what the Council is doing is that the results are showing and Abians are very happy.
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‎The event equally featured the cutting of a cake marking the first anniversary of establishing the Abia Global Economic Advisory Council. The following members of the Council were present; Prof. Ms. Arunma Oteh – Co-Chair, Mrs. Ifueko Okauru – Chair, M&E Committee, Mr. Victor Onyenkpa – Chair, Financing/roadshow Committee, ⁠Mrs. Ezinwa Okoroafor – Member, Mr. Chidi Ajaegbu – Member, and Dr. Olugbenda Adesida – Member including members of the State Executive Council and political appointees.

A member representing the South-East on the Governing Board of North East Development Commission (NEDC), Rep Sir Sam Ifeanyi Onuigbo, has extolled the four new tax bills signed into law by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, remarking that the laws will ensure economic stability and prosperity of the country.

He argued that this was the first time the Federal Government took bold steps to harmonise the issue of tax administration and revenue generation, stressing that President Tinubu has demonstrated his expertise and experience as an international auditor.

The four bills signed into law by President Tinubu included, the Nigeria Tax Bill, the Nigeria Tax Administration Bill, the Nigeria Revenue Service (Establishment) Bill, and the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill, which were passed by the National Assembly.

In a statement he sent to media houses, Onuigbo, who is also a former two-term federal lawmaker, noted: “As the President, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, gives his assent to four ambitious tax-related and revenue management bills today, I can make bold to say that the journey to the economic prosperity premised in the Renewed Hope Agenda, has truly begun.

“I must have to commend the National Assembly for painstaking working on these four cardinal bills that set a harmonious pedestal for revenue generation and tax administration in the country.

“As a former two-term federal law maker, I believe that this is the first time in the history of this great country that a bold and courageous effort has been taken to give legislative fresh breath to the issues of taxation and revenue generation.

“Next to the fiscal autonomy of the Local Government Councils, President Tinubu has scored another bull’s eye in providing a strong foundation for Nigeria’s economic prosperity and political stability.”

Onuigbo pleaded with Nigerians to continue supporting President Tinubu’s initiatives stressing that the President is taking surefooted steps to address the structural imbalances in the management of the country’s economy.

Part of the statement read: “Nigerians can now sit back and see that, indeed, a well trained and experienced auditor, President Tinubu knows how to fix the bolts and joints in the economic management of Nigeria. You may be free to see this wonderful event as the economic independence of the country.

“Again, I must commend President Tinubu and the National Assembly for the collaborative and harmonious relationship that has produced this outstanding success for our great nation, Nigeria.

“Let, me also commend Nigerians for their understanding and cooperation during the course of the extensive consultations that went into the making of these ambitious bills that have become Acts of the National Assembly of Nigeria.”