By Peter Okore, Umuahia
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Public Communications, Sunday Dare, has commended the partnership between the Federal Government and the Abia State Government, describing it as productive and beneficial to the state’s development.
Dare spoke on Wednesday at the end of a tour of federal and state government projects in Abia State by members of the Renewed Hope Ambassadorial Presidential Media Team.
The team visited a number of completed and ongoing projects being executed under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and Governor Alex Otti’s development programme.
Among the projects inspected were sections of the 67.5-kilometre Umuahia–Uzuakoli–Akara–Alayi–Abiriba–Ohafia Road, also known as the Joe Irukwu Road; the four-lane Tower-Onuimo Road, renamed Dr Uma Ukpai Road; the newly constructed Omenuko Bridge; the Renewed Hope Housing Estates in Umuahia and Onu-Inyang, Bende; and the recently commissioned Nnenna Oti Central Bus Terminal in Umuahia.
The team also inspected the 30-kilometre Ozuabam–Ndi Okereke–Amuvi Arochukwu Road and other infrastructure projects across the state.
A notable feature of many of the roads visited was the installation of drainage systems and solar-powered streetlights along the routes.
Speaking to journalists after the inspection, Dare said Abia was witnessing significant transformation under Governor Otti.
“It is really impressive to see that a state like Abia is experiencing this kind of transformation, spanning road construction, transportation, housing and other critical infrastructure within three years of Dr Alex Otti’s administration,” he said.
“Even the 33-kilometre electrification project we saw on the Ohafia axis demonstrates the governor’s commitment to providing critical infrastructure needed for development.
“We know that in the past, Abia did not experience this level of infrastructural development. Now you have a governor who is focused on the fundamentals, working with stakeholders and collaborating with the Federal Government for the benefit of the people.”
Dare stressed that governance should be driven by collaboration rather than partisan considerations.
“When it comes to governance, it is about collaboration. When it comes to developing your people, it does not necessarily have to wear party colours. When politics takes precedence over development, the people suffer.
“What we have seen here is a strong partnership between the state and the Federal Government. The collaboration is impressive. It covers infrastructure, human capital development and other critical sectors. We have also seen ongoing cooperation on the airport project,” he said.
However, Abia State officials clarified that the reconstruction of the Umuahia–Uzuakoli–Akara–Alayi–Abiriba–Ohafia Road was fully funded and executed by the state government.
The Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, and the Commissioner for Works, Engr. Otumchere Oti, said the road, which had been abandoned and largely impassable for years, has significantly improved connectivity between communities in Abia Central and Abia North senatorial districts.
According to them, the road links several agrarian communities to the state capital and is fitted with streetlights and other supporting infrastructure.
The Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Engr. Ikechukwu Monday, disclosed that the state government was close to restoring electricity to communities in Ohafia Local Government Area that had been without power for about eight years due to vandalism.
He said the government had completed a 20-kilometre, 33KV power line from Ihechiowa in Arochukwu to Ebem in Ohafia, terminating at a newly installed 7.5MVA injection substation.
“We are currently completing the final installations required to restore electricity supply to the entire Ohafia Local Government Area,” he said.
Monday also revealed that the state government was concluding arrangements to acquire a majority stake in the Abia operations of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), a move he said would facilitate the extension of stable electricity to the remaining eight local government areas not currently covered by Geometric Power in Aba.
Also speaking, the Commissioner for Lands and Housing, Chaka Chukwumerije, described the Renewed Hope Housing Estate in Umuahia as one of the key Federal Government interventions aimed at addressing housing needs in the state.
On his part, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, recalled the poor condition of several roads rehabilitated by the current administration, particularly the Umuahia–Uzuakoli–Akara–Abiriba–Ohafia Road.
According to him, the road had remained in a deplorable condition for more than two decades before the intervention of the Otti administration.This version tightens the structure, removes repetition, corrects grammar and punctuation, and presents the story in a standard newspaper format.
FG media team