The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate for Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has promised that accountability and prudent management of resources shall be his guiding principle when he becomes the next governor of Abia State, come May 29, 2019.

Dr. Otti told the committee of traditional rulers in Isuikwuato, at the weekend, led by Eze Ukandu, that he had signed a contract with Abia people and not a kobo of the money that belongs to the state shall be stolen under his watch as the governor of the state.

“Instead of me to steal Abia money, I will put in the little that I have, because God has blessed me, just like His Royal Majesty has spoken”, Otti pledged at Eze Ukandu’s palace, while addressing the council of traditional rulers who had gathered to welcome him on a campaign tour of Isuikwuato Local Government Area, Abia State.

A statement by the director media and publicity of Alex Otti Campaign Organisation, Kazie Uko, quoted Dr. Otti as saying that the problem with Abia State was that successive PDP governments, since 1999, had failed to invest in the people they governed, in addition to not investing in critical infrastructure.

“Investing in the people is not a favour. That is what I always tell leaders. If you invest in, say, someone’s education and the person graduates, he or she will invest in you. But because successive governments in Abia State have not been about the people, they have not bothered to invest in the people, rather they have misappropriated funds meant for the development of the state”, he said.

Otti, however, declared that Abia State will not be in this state of grief for much longer, for, according to him, relief was just around the corner. He said: “I know where all the money and investment in this world are. There are funds lying idle all over the world, but you have to know that these funds are available before you can get them and put them to good use. That’s the attraction of my governorship. I have the reputation and people trust me to be able to attract those funding. What is required is for the people to enthrone a right-thinking government, in Abia”.

He informed the traditional rulers that Isuikwuato was a very important and strategic local government in the development of Abia State and promised that his government would tap into the great agricultural potential of Isuikwuato, especially, in cashew production. He explained that whatever investment government would make in that locality, it would recoup ten times over, with prudent management of resources.

While thanking the traditional rulers for the support extended to him and APGA in the 2015 gubernatorial election in the state, he reminded them that the 2019 election was around the corner and further solicited for their support, by impressing on their subjects to vote for APGA at the gubernatorial, senatorial, federal and state legislative house elections. He promised that APGA would certainly defend its mandate.

“Now, because of the hardship in the state, rather than your subjects taking care of you, they now come to you for bail out, because either their salaries are not paid, or, as pensioners, their pensions are not paid for several months. On the other hand, our graduates and youth cannot afford to get employment. So, it’s in the interest of all of us to ensure that we have good governance, so that things will change for better in our state”, Otti admonished.

Receiving Dr. Otti and his entourage, including the APGA senatorial candidate for Abia North, Chief David Ogba Onuoha (Bourdex), Eze Ukandu prayed that God will bless the aspiration of the APGA governorship candidate and grant his desire to be the next governor of Abia State. He acknowledged through another Eze who spoke on behalf of the Council that Isuikwuato voted APGA in 2015 and that they would do the same in the 2019 elections.