APC Asks Otti to Stop Misleading Abians Over Ownership of Projects

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State has urged Governor Alex Otti to stop misleading residents over the ownership of some infrastructure projects executed in the state.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Publicity Secretary of the Abia APC, Uche Aguoru, accused the state government of claiming credit for projects funded or approved by the Federal Government.

Aguoru said the party had observed what it described as a recurring problem of poor information management in the Otti administration.

“The All Progressives Congress in Abia State has observed one unfortunate, embarrassing and recurring disappointment in the administration of Governor Alex Otti — a glaring lack of coordination in information management,” the statement read.

“Time and again, the governor’s spokesman, Ferdinand Ekeoma, steps into the public space to comment on matters about which he appears to possess little or no knowledge.”

According to Aguoru, the comments were made in response to remarks by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu, during the party’s recent congress, where he highlighted projects executed in Abia State by the Federal Government under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He said the projects listed by Kalu included the reconstruction of the Omenuko Bridge and the Umuahia–Ikot Ekpene Road.

“Rather than seek accurate information or clarification on these projects, Mr. Ekeoma chose the unfortunate route of deploying gutter language and uncouth remarks against Rt. Hon. Benjamin Kalu for simply stating verifiable facts,” Aguoru said.

The APC spokesman further noted that Governor Otti had previously acknowledged that the reconstruction of the Omenuko Bridge is a Federal Government project.

“For the sake of clarity, even Governor Alex Otti himself acknowledged that the project is a federal government project,” he said.

Aguoru stated that the governor made the acknowledgement during an inspection tour of the project by the Minister of Works, David Umahi, on November 1, 2025.

He explained that the reconstruction of the Omenuko Bridge was originally awarded to Setraco Construction in 2015 and later reviewed in 2023.

According to him, the Abia State Government subsequently sought approval from the Federal Government to undertake the reconstruction with an agreement that the state would be reimbursed.

“The governor formally wrote to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu through the Ministry of Works requesting approval to undertake the reconstruction with the understanding that the federal government would reimburse the state,” Aguoru added.