Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has appealed to corporate organizations and other individuals who left Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, due to poor infrastructure to return, as his administration has started the process of rebuilding the commercial city.
Governor Otti made the assertion on Saturday in Aba, at a “Victory Rally”, organised by party faithfuls and other residents of the commercial city to celebrate his affirmation by the Supreme Court as the authentic winner of the 2023 Governorship Election in the State.
The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Okey Ahaiwe, its candidate in the last governorship election in Abia State, seeking to sack Labour Party’s Alex Otti as the Governor of Abia State.
Uwani Abba-Aji, a justice, who read the lead judgment held that the appellants (Ahiwe and the PDP) failed to prove their case that Otti was not qualified to contest the election and that the election was marred by substantial non-compliance.
He proceeded to affirm the concurrent judgments of the election tribunal and the Court of Appeal.
Addressing a large crowd, at the open arena of Aba Town Hall, the venue of the event, Governor Otti declared that the storm was over. “You will see for yourselves what will happen”.
He said that his administration has already taken the decision to start the reconstruction of Ohanku and Obohia roads before the end of this (January 2024) month.
To do this, he said that the State Government has examined the topography of those two roads and made an additional decision that the contractors will use rigid pavement technology, also known as cement technology to build those roads, so that in the next 20 years nobody will talk about their maintenance.
In continuation of his administration’s efforts to recover all field roads in Aba, the Governor said, “As we speak Omuma road is being asphalted and has also been turned into a dual carriageway.
“We have completed asphalting Umoba road and it has already been put into use from the waterside to Obikabia junction. We have also announced the dualisation of Owerrinta to Umuekea junction. Just as we are dualising the Onuimo border in Umuahia South Local Government Area into Okpara Squear, going through the tower and of course, Tower to Okpara Squear is going to be completed any moment from now”
This is as he announced that the State Government has finalised arrangements with some contractors to control flooding in Aba, especially around the Ariaria axis.
According to the Governor, “If you don’t solve the flooding problem, all the roads that we are doing will be exposed to risk in the next few years, so we have received a design from experts about how to take away all the stormwater around Ariaria, Ukwu Mango, Ndi Egoro and take them into Aba River at Waterside.
On the ongoing reconstruction of PortHarcourt Road, Governor Otti said that Julius Berger Plc, the contractors have promised to complete and hand over the road for use to the State, by the end of December 2024. “Our agreement was that they will hand it over to us in 2025, but because we are paying them promptly, they have decided to increase their pace to ensure that they deliver on time”.
He said that his government is doing all these to provide a more conducive environment for residents and to promote commerce in Aba and thanked the residents for their support of his emergence, as the Governor of Abia State and promised that Aba will return to its former glory and even better.
Emmanuel Emeruwa, speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, who represents Aba South State Constituency in the House, thanked the Governor for his interest in ensuring that Aba gets a facelift and reassured the Governor of the continued support of Aba indegines and other residents to his administration.
