The governor of Abia State, Mr. Alex Otti has expressed gratitude to the Muslims in the state for the part they played in helping to bring his administration to birth.
In his maiden Sallah message since coming to power on May 29, Otti rejoiced with all Muslims across Nigeria on this year’s celebration of the Eid- el – Kabir Festival.
“I particularly rejoice with the Muslim community in Abia State as they join millions of other faithfuls world wide to mark this most important religious feast in the Islamic calendar,” he said in the statement he personally signed.
The new Abia governor dsscribed this year’s Eid-el-Kabir celebration as “remarkable for us in Abia, being the first in the life of this administration” hence he used the occasion to specially thank the Abia Muslim community for their “immense support”.
He said: “I believe that our government is the answer to the many years of supplication to Almighty God by the people of Abia State and their yearnings for a credible leader that would lead them out of bondage and into a glorious era of socio-economic freedom and abundance.
“Just like the great Prophet Ibrahim demonstrated his loyalty to God even to the point of sacrificing his own son, I urge us all to, in similar manner, remain faithful and continue to uphold the leadership of the state in prayer”.
Otti said that his government would not look back “as we strive to rebuild our state and provide the conducive environment for our people to live, work and prosper”.
He assured the Muslim community and all Abia residents that his administration was “already on the march to fulfilling the promises we made to you and the entire people of Abia during the campaigns”.
He listed the promises already fulfilled to include declaring emergencies in the various sectors of environment, health and education and the commencement of regular payment of monthly salaries to our civil servants.
The Otti administration effected the payment of June salary on Wednesday the 28th day of the month in line with his promise.
“While we are working assiduously to rid our cities of Aba and Umuahia of mountains of wastes we inherited from the previous administration, we have also put measures in place to sanitise our motor parks, streets and markets,” he said.
The governor explained that the measures already put in place to sanitise the system were aimed at to improving the ease of doing business and subsequently establish a more civil and effective revenue generation system.
But he warned that the goals of a highly improved Abia would not be achieved without a conducive atmosphere for peaceful coexistence.
“Therefore, I, once again, use the occasion of this Eid el Kabir celebration to call on all Abians to be law-abiding, live in peace with their neighbours and do not engage in any nefarious activities that would put you at loggerheads with security agencies,” Otti said.