01/10/2026
FISCAL DISCIPLINE, HUMAN DIGNITY: GOV. OTTI DIDN’T JUST PROMISED, HE DELIVERED.
Ctz. UKOHA, NJOKU UKOHA | Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor | October 1, 2026.
For 24 years, Abia was described as a State with great people but grounded promise. Salaries were owed, pensions were denied, roads were death traps, schools were dilapidated, hospitals had lost accreditation, and refuse defined our cities. On May 29, 2023, Ndi Abia entrusted His Excellency, Dr. Alex Chioma Otti, OFR, with the task of rebuilding a State in ruins and despair. 40 months after, the verdict is not in propaganda - it is in verifiable and measurable data that every Abian can see, touch and feel.
This is not a story of promises. It is a story of performance.
1. INFRASTRUCTURE: 430 ROADS, 900 KILOMETRES OF ACCESS. On assumption of office, Gov. Otti declared infrastructure an emergency. Today, by his own verifiable account at the May 2026 Media Chat: “414 road projects covering 864.12 kilometres have been completed across all 17 LGAs, with drainage and solar streetlights. 82 more roads covering 212 kilometres are currently under construction”.
From Port Harcourt Road and Ohanku Road, Ovom Road Erosion recovery, people’s road, Obohia Road and 11km underground tunnel, cemetery road, Umule Road, Kent, Umuimo, Afule, Udeagbala, Ehi, University, College, Queens, MCC, Elizabeth, Ajagba Roads in Aba, to the 6-lane Aguiyi Ironsi Boulevard in Umuahia, Library Avenue, Uma Ukpai Way, to the historic Omenuko Bridge and 30km Arochukwu Road, Nunya-Eluama Road, Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Abiriba-Ohafia corridor, Umuahia-Ikot Ekpene and Ahiaeke-Okwuta-Bende roads – Abians can finally move with ease and goods can move. Night economy has returned with over 10,000 solar streetlights installed, Aba, our commercial heartbeat, is breathing again.
Impact: Transport cost has dropped, trade has accelerated, and local engineers have been empowered through direct labour and zero-pothole maintenance policy.
2. EDUCATION: FREE EDUCATION AND 20% OF EVERY BUDGET. No government in Abia’s history has invested in education like Otti’s.
- Budget: Consistently allocates 20% of the entire State budget to education – above the UNESCO benchmark. In the 2026 Appropriation Bill of N1.016 Trillion, N203.2 billion was appropriated for education.
- Free & Compulsory Basic Education: Introduced in 2024, leading to over 300,000 new enrolments in public schools.
- Teachers: 5,394 new teachers recruited on merit in 2025, with another 4,075 more recruited in August, 2026. No discrimination on the basis of State of origin.
- Infrastructure: 221 Model Primary and Secondary Schools, 20 Smart Schools with 2 commissioned at Ubakala and Umuomaiukwu. Tertiary institutions – ABSU, Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, Abia College of Education Technical – have had accreditations restored. Existing dilapidated hostels renovated and made habitable, with 10,000-bed hostel, new Faculties of Law and Agriculture, modern cafeteria ongoing in ABSU, infrastructure upgrades and new cutting-edge courses introduced in Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic with massive ongoing construction at the Osisioma permanent site in preparation for relocation and the complete recovery of Abia State College of Education Technical, Arochukwu.
Impact: Public schools abandoned for years are now oversubscribed. The child of a carpenter in Aba now competes with the child of the rich in the same public school.
3. HEALTH: FROM HOSPITALS THAT KILL TO HOSPITALS THAT HEAL.
- Budget: 15% of annual budget to health - N149.7 billion in 2026.
- Project Ekwueme: 200 Primary Healthcare Centres targeted across 184 wards. 277 facilities have been retrofitted with over 150 of them functionalised under the State project Ekwueme initiative and the World Health Impact Project, including the commissioned Chima Ubani Memorial Hospital, (formerly Obingwa General Hospital), ready for commissioning Arochukwu General Hospital, ongoing Okpuala Ngwa, Ikwuano, Ohafia, Umunneochi General Hospitals. The renovated and functionalised Cottage Hospitals in Abayi and Umuihe. The ongoing specialist hospitals Amachara, Umunnato and ABSUTH.
- Manpower: 821 health professionals recruited with 771 already in service. ABSU Teaching Hospital accreditation restored.
- Insurance: Over 270,000 residents enrolled in Abia State Health Insurance Scheme. Abia recorded one of Nigeria’s best performances in reducing maternal and infant mortality in Q1 2026. Ranked most prepared State for health emergency response.
Impact: Healthcare is no longer for the rich alone. The poorest Abian in Ukwa can walk into a functional PHC and receive attention.
4. TRANSPORT: THE ELECTRIC REVOLUTION. Abia launched state-owned electric bus mass transit – Abia Green Shuttle.
- Over 386,000 passengers transported as at May 2026 since December 2025 launch.
- 40 EV buses on the fleet, 30 additional electric buses expected by November 2026, 30 more thereafter.
- Nnenna Otti bus terminal commissioned and operational while Aba terminal is nearing completion.
- Abia Airport project construction is steadily progressing.
Impact: Clean, affordable, dignified transport. Lower emissions, lower fares and the target date for connecting Abia to the world through air travel set to be met.
5. ENVIRONMENT: FROM DIRTIEST TO ONE OF THE CLEANEST*
- At inception of Gov. Otti’s administration, Abia was rated as the dirtiest State in Nigeria. Today, it is ranked among the cleanest.
- ASEPA now evacuates over 13 tons of waste weekly in a structured manner.
- Over 2,000 jobs created through environmental management reforms.
Impact: Aba and Umuahia are now livable, with restored pride and public health.
6. HUMAN CAPITAL DEVELOPMENT & YOUTH EMPOWERMENT.
Otti believes people are the real infrastructure.
- Training programmes in software engineering, Artificial Intelligence and Cybersecurity through the TechRise program where over 2200 Abia Youths have been trained and equipped with cutting-edge digital skills and the Abia Leadership Academy where young people are being transformed to future leaders with value re-orientation.
- Over N300 million earmarked for innovation-driven enterprises.
- 300 CSS farms trained and empowered youths adding value in the Agricultural value chain.
- Women occupy over 85% of Permanent Secretary positions – unprecedented gender inclusion in Nigeria.
- Abia Industrial and Innovation Park and Aba Digital Mall (with MTN) to drive e-commerce and jobs.
7. CIVIL SERVICE REFORMS: RESTORING DIGNITY. This is the most emotional transformation.
- Inherited N191.2 billion debt, including over N10 billion pension arrears spanning 45-56 months, unpaid salaries in ABSUTH, ABSU, Ogbonnaya Onu Polytechnic, College of Education Technical and others.
- Over N40 billion spent to clear salary and pension arrears in 2 years. Single-tranche N10 billion paid to pensioners.
- Salaries and full pensions now paid on or before the 28th of every month – routine, not news.
- N61.8 billion gratuity liability verified: N7.2bn (2001-2010), N43.6bn (2011-May 2023), N10.9bn (May 2023-date). Payment of gratuities for 2001-2010 retirees commenced August 2026. Leave allowances paid after years of denial.
- Long-abandoned Old Nnamdi Azikiwe Secretariat retrofitted, now housing over 1,000 workers. JAAC building, Workers Secretariat completed and renovated with facelift. Digitization currently ongoing, paperless service with MTN full coverage target.
Impact: Civil servants can plan their lives. Pensioners no longer die waiting.
8. LAND ADMINISTRATION: END OF LAND FRAUD.
- over 5,047 Certificates of Occupancy signed by Governor Otti – surpassing 50% of the total C of O signed in the successive 24 years.
- Digitization of over 4 million land documents, completion of new Aba Master Plan with UN-Habitat.
Impact: Land verification now takes days, not years. Fraud and double allocation crashing.
9. PUBLIC BUILDINGS & FISCAL DISCIPLINE.
- Debt reduced from N191 billion in 2023 to less than N50-60 billion by end of 2025 – a 60-75% reduction, with zero new borrowing for recurrent expenditure.
- IGR rose from N14.67 billion in 2022 to N66.86 billion in 2025 – a 356% increase (BudgIT Report).
- 2026 IGR projected at N223.4 billion vs N100bn in 2025.
- Abia moved from 17th to 4th position in fiscal transparency (BudgIT State of States) and from 36th in 2024 to 10th in 2025 to 3rd Most Improved State in Nigeria in 2026 (Phillips Consulting State Performance Index).
- N1.016 Trillion 2026 Budget: N229bn for Agric, Youth, ICT, Women, Housing, Environment.
- Brand new SSG building completed and in use, Renovated and retrofitted Okpara Auditorium, 99% completed Government House Clinic, Ongoing Governors Office and Residence, the Nigeria Airforce Office complex, GADA office and GODA office, etc.
Governor Alex Otti has not performed magic. He applied what he calls the New Abia Formula: Apply every kobo to the direct problem of the people, cut waste, plug leakages, and return sovereignty to the people.
The measurable impact is in the life of Mama Adaku whose pension now comes on the 28th; in Emeka whose shop in Ariaria now has light and road to evacuate goods at night; in little Chiamaka who returned to public school because it is free and has a real teacher.
This is why diplomats now sleep over in Abia - American Ambassador, British High Commissioner, German, Chinese, Vietnamese, Netherlands, Israel Envoys and Diplomats – because perception has changed.
Abia is not yet Uhuru, but Abia is no longer the same. The foundation is laid. The momentum must be sustained. Let us reward good work with more work. Gov. Otti again for a greater Abia.
