Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has appealed to the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission to increase the state’s share of federal revenue allocation to enable the government to deliver more developmental projects.
Otti made the call on Sunday while receiving the Federal Commissioner representing Abia State at RMAFC, Mrs Nkechi Oti, who presented him with a report following her familiarisation tour and stakeholder engagements across the state.
The governor said additional funds from the federation account would help Abia execute critical projects, noting that his administration had already demonstrated strong financial discipline, as reflected in a recent Debt Management Office report.
He said, “Anything you can do to help us increase our federal allocation will be very much appreciated by your state and by the government. Once again, thank you for the report. I will take my time and read through it.
“We have a lot of things on our hands. If we get more money to be able to execute them, why not? Particularly, we have also shown financial discipline.
“I am sure you may have seen the report that came out last week, which shows that our state has done well in terms of reduction of debt.
“That could only have happened because we are disciplined in terms of how we spend. We only spend when it is absolutely necessary and for the right reasons.”
Otti thanked the commissioner for the observations her team made during their visit and said his administration is committed to addressing them.
He also responded to concerns raised about overstaffing in the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, saying he would address the matter urgently.
“I will also engage further with ASOPADEC to understand what their problem is. The truth is that we do not want to throw people into the job market.
“What I had instructed was some form of restructuring. If there is excess capacity, they could be sent somewhere else rather than putting them in the unemployment queue.
“The Head of Service should also be part of this meeting. It should happen as quickly as tomorrow so that we can look at the headcount and know how to send some people to other places,” Otti stated.
Otti congratulated Oti on her appointment and assured her of the state government’s support and collaboration with RMAFC.
Earlier, Oti said her visit was part of her familiarisation tour following her recent appointment.
She commended the governor’s achievements in infrastructure, digitalisation of internally generated revenue, upgrade of public schools and health centres, and the employment of over 5,000 teachers.
She, however, identified some challenges, including the overstaffing of ASOPADEC and the need for improved community engagement in oil-producing areas.
Also present at the meeting were the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Uwaoma Ukandu; the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Goodluck Ubochi; and the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Public Communication, Mr Dodo Okafor.
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