*** Promises Transitional Committee Soon
By Harry Awurumibe, Editor Abuja Bureau
Still basking in the euphoria of his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday as the Governor-elect of Abia state, Alex Chioma Otti has hinted that only the best hands will be recruited to serve in his administration.
This is even as Otti who won the March 18 governorship election in Abia state under the banner of Labour Party (LP) has also said that he will soon set up a Transitional Committee which will make the May 29 Handover date seamless as he wants to hit the ground running.
Speaking on Arise News breakfast programme ‘The Morning Show’ monitored in Abuja on Thursday, Otti said he is determined to change the negative narratives about Abia state in terms of infrastructural development within the limited time he has to serve Abians.
The Governor-elect disclosed that he will in coming days come out with the list of a Transitional Committee, saying that “I will appoint Transitional Committee soon to show that we are ready to work for our people and our state”
Otti restated his promise to the people in his acceptance speech on Wednesday that he will pay off all the salary arrears owed to Abia civil servants by the present and past administrations in the statte before December 2023.
Asked how he will raise the money to pay off old debts and also to run his government in the face of the precarious financial status of Abia state, the former Group Managing Director of Diamond bank said he has an idea how to overcome the challenges of paucity of funds to run his administration.
Said he: “We are not going to over tax the people to raise money to run the government. If you focus on revenue generation you miss the road. I am aware that the N16 billion present Abia revenue can double if the right things are done and we will do things right.
“I will take another route to raise revenue. I will introduce the use of technology in the collection of government revenues instead of outsourcing government revenue collection to political jobbers. This will not happen under my watch.
“The current N16 billion revenue of Abia state can increase to N32 billion. We will deploy technology in revenue collection and this way, will block the leakages and if we do this, we will raise our revenue base to a level that will have money to work for our people”.
The Investment Banker of repute however promised to create a bigger and more robust revenue for Abia state to work for Abians, pointing out that when you raise tax, it will hurt the people who are looking forward to a better life.
“We will do everything possible to ensure that Abians are not overtaxed in anyway. I promise not to raise high tax to harm Abians.
When you create a robust economy or prosperity, citizens will be happy to pay their taxes without you having to use dogs to chase them around to pay taxes”.
On his feelings about his rivals in the just concluded governorship election in Abia state, he said he will not seek revenge because as a christian he will not pursue vendetta, pointing out that after all the contestants have good intentions to serve Abians.
According to Otti except in two Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Abia state, he won overwhelmingly in all the LGAs hence he is not expecting any of the fellow contestants to drag him to court, saying that it will delay the development of the backward state.
Asked if his rivals have congratulated him since his declaration, Otti said: “Aside the Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu who have sent his message of congratulations, and I thank him for the gesture, I have also been receiving congratulatory messages from the candidates of APGA, ADC, Accord, AAC and AA parties too”.
