Business
Abia govt house unfit for residence, to be converted into 5-Star hotel – Otti
Abia State government says the new Government House located at Ogurube Layout, Umuahia—hurriedly completed and commissioned by the immediate past administration—consists only of office spaces, is uninhabitable, and was never designed to be a residential building.
The current administration has therefore decided to convert the structure into a 5-Star hotel.
State Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, made this disclosure, stating the clarification became necessary following what he described as false narratives being peddled by the former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration, suggesting that the new Government House has been abandoned by Governor Alex Otti.
Speaking after leading journalists on a tour of the facility in Umuahia, Kanu said the complex lacks basic facilities to qualify as a Government House. He revealed that labourers were still working on the security gate the same day Ikpeazu commissioned the building, just days before leaving office.
“This place appears uninhabitable. There are no wardrobes anywhere—just empty halls. Did anybody see any wardrobe in any of the floors? There were none. So this place was never meant to be a residential house,” he said.
Kanu expressed shock at the design of the building and questioned the intentions behind it. “Only the first floor appears to have been finished. The rest of the floors were left incomplete,” he added.
He also took a swipe at former Commissioner John Okiyi Kalu, who he said went on Arise Television to mislead the public. “Almost everything he said is a lie. I brought you journalists here to confirm what Dr. Alex Otti said. You can see many areas were not plastered, the elevator was not installed, and the place looks dangerous. A misstep could be fatal,” Kanu warned.
According to him, the former administration erected the building merely as a public relations stunt, fully aware that Governor Ikpeazu never intended to live there. “Granted, you’ll see a few pieces of furniture, but that’s all. Nothing upstairs. They wasted the state’s huge resources on an uninhabitable edifice,” he said.
He also described the building’s location as a security risk, surrounded by private buildings, and urged the public to disregard Okiyi Kalu’s claims on national television.
Kanu announced that Governor Otti has directed that a new Government House be built on the site of the old Government House, which he said was not rented, contrary to claims by the previous administration. “That property was duly acquired by a past government, but the last administration deceived the public by paying themselves rent from government coffers,” he said.
He confirmed that the incomplete structure at Ogurube Layout will be repurposed into a 5-Star hotel to serve the Umuahia capital city. The Commissioner said the current administration is committed to prudence and will not waste Abia’s resources. He urged the public to ignore opposition propaganda and continue to support Governor Otti.
