At a grandiose ceremony held at the Umuahia Township Stadium, Otti took his oath of office at exactly 12.18pm, seven minutes after his deputy, Engr. Ikechukwu Emetu had been sworn in. The Chief Judge of Abia State, Justice Lilian Abai administered the oaths.
Otti, who is the only governor elected on the platform of Labour Party, promised to be “the chief servant of Abia State”.
“Our earnest desire is to turn our electoral victory into an instrument for improved fortunes of all well-meaning people,” he said.
The brand new governor of God’s own state stated that time has come for Abia to have a break from the past, adding that the state “has finally been freed from bondage”.
He lambasted past administrations in Abia for running down the state through “decades of poor quality governance, the decades of stunted growth and development”.
However, Otti promised to right the wrongs and put Abia on the path of progressive trajectory, noting that his “major responsibility” would be ensuring that the people of Abia fully enjoyed their “freedom from bondage”.
He said: “We rejoice in the birth of a new and glorious era, yet we cannot easily forget the years of waste and missed opportunities arising from self-seeking, prebendal and profligate governance.
“To the glory of God, this is now a time for us to wipe our tears. It is the time for rebuilding, not just the state’s physical infrastructure and fiscal buffers that are in a sorry state of decay. It is the time to rebuild our individual and collective values. It is now the time to take back our society”.
The former bank chief, who has become third time lucky in his quest to become the chief executive of Abia noted that “we are fully aware that it is the beginning of a long and demanding journey”.
According to him, “Abia State is starting not from ground zero but from enormously negative position” hence “there is no turning back until we achieve our collective dreams and aspirations”.
He said that his administration has inherited N200 billion debt, N50 billion salary arrears, colossal infrastructure decay, among other negative indices.
But the labour party governor invited Abians to brace up to the challenges ahead, saying “my pledge to you today is that I will lead that charge to restore our society to greatness”.
Otti’s Inauguration attracted dignitaries from within Abia and across Nigeria. Some other dignitaries include Vice-presidential candidate or Labour Party, Yusuf Datti Ahmed, former Chief of General Staff, Commodore Ebitu Ukiwe(rtd) and his wife, Amina, former Abia governor, Theodore Orji and his wife Mercy Odochi.
Others include former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, National Chairman of Labour Party, Julius Abure, who represented the presidential candidate, Peter Obi, Rivers State governor and immediate past transport minister, Chibuike Amechi, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, Senator Ike Nwachukwu, among others.
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