Renewed Hope Media Team Commends Otti’s Transformational Projects, Says Abia Witnessing Remarkable Infrastructure Progress

The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Media and Public Communication, Mr. Sunday Dare, has said that the pace of infrastructure development under the administration of Governor Alex Otti has positioned Abia among the states witnessing remarkable progress in critical sectors.

Mr. Dare made the remark when he, alongside the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, led members of the Renewed Hope Presidential Media Team on an inspection tour of key federal and state government projects across Abia State.

He described the ongoing projects being executed by the Governor Alex Otti administration as impressive, restorative and transformational.

The presidential aide particularly commended the state’s investment in critical infrastructure, including the electrification project in Ohafia and ongoing road construction works across the state, noting that the current administration has demonstrated a strong commitment to reversing the trend of underdevelopment that characterised the state for many years.

Mr. Dare cited the ongoing Abia Airport project as an example of effective collaboration between the Federal and State Governments and described the relationship between both tiers of government as commendable.

Earlier, while conducting the team around some project sites, the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, and his Works counterpart, Mr. Otumchere Oti, said that the 67-kilometre Joe Irukwu Way, which was previously impassable, was entirely funded and constructed by the state government and has significantly improved connectivity for more than 20 communities.

They noted that the road, fitted with end-to-end solar-powered streetlights, links numerous agrarian communities and mineral-producing areas to the state capital. They added that the state government has also intervened in several federal roads across the state to improve accessibility to remote communities.

Also speaking, the Commissioner for Lands, Mr. Chaka Chukwumerije, highlighted the significance of the Federal Housing Authority’s Renewed Hope Housing Estate project in Bende, describing it as one of the key federal interventions aimed at addressing housing needs in the state.

The Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, Mr. Ikechukwu Monday, disclosed that the state government is on the verge of restoring electricity to Ohafia communities that had been without power for eight years due to vandalism.

According to him, the government has completed a 20-kilometre 33KV power line from Ihechiowa in Arochukwu to Ebem in Ohafia, terminating at a newly installed 7.5MVA injection substation.

He said the ministry is currently completing the last-mile installations needed to restore power supply to the entire Ohafia Local Government Area. He further revealed that the state government is close to finalising a transaction to acquire a majority stake in the Abia operations of the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company (EEDC), a move that would enable it to extend stable electricity supply to the remaining local government areas not covered by Geometric Power.

In his contribution, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, said the Joe Irukwu Way had remained in a deplorable state and suffered near abandonment for almost two decades before the intervention of the present administration.

The delegation, comprising editors, senior journalists, media influencers and representatives of the Federal Government, visited several projects being executed under President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and the Governor Alex Otti-led administration.

Projects inspected by the team included the 67-kilometre Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Akara-Alayi Road, renamed Joe Irukwu Way; the Renewed Hope Housing Estate in Umuahia; the 30-kilometre Ozu-Abam-Ndiokereke-Amuvi Road in Arochukwu; and the 42-kilometre Ebem-Ohafia Road.

The delegation also visited the newly constructed Omenuko Bridge, the Renewed Hope Housing Estate at Onu-Inyang in Bende Local Government Area, which is currently under construction, the Nnenna Oti Multi-Modal Bus Terminal in Umuahia, as well as the four-lane Dr. Uma Ukpai Road project, a Federal Government project being executed by the Governor Alex Otti-led administration.