Jonathan Nwokpor
Alex Otti, the Governor of Abia State, lamented that in the past, certain people shared money belonging to Abia State as a blood tonic.
This is all the while he was giving assignments to heads of different ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) to develop long-term, practical plans for enhanced State IGR.
During a follow-up retreat on Saturday at the Government House in Umuahia, where heads of MDAs led their teams to present plans on shoring up the State’s fiscal base, Otti made this statement: “If its IGR is shored up, Abia will no longer depend on loans to fund the 2024 budget.”
The Governor previously stated that governments need revenue to fund expenditures, characterising the practice of states requesting funding from the federal government out of the blue as misleading.
He expressed optimism that the State would not have borrowed as much as it had included in the budget by the end of the year, provided the correct action was taken.
During the event, Governor Otti further clarified that the State’s repeal of the pension law for former governors and their deputies was a cost-cutting measure rather than a political witch hunt directed at any one person.
He counselled politicians who had allegedly before shared Abia’s money as a blood tonic to realise that such times are behind them.
“We don’t believe that politics is a business. We believe that people should have things they are doing before coming to serve, and if you have offered yourself to serve, then you should be willing to make the required sacrifices.
“If you find yourself in this place, you should count yourself lucky that people believe in you and give you their support and votes.
“It is a privilege, and the least that is expected of you is to make sacrifices for the betterment of the State.
“So, the days of sharing money are over, the days of blood tonic politics are also over. This is the time to make sacrifices for the interest of the State,” he said.
In his speech, Commissioner of Finance Mr Mike Akpara stated that the story needed to be changed and that the government needed to act differently by producing a large IGR.
He explained that the people of Abia would only be taxed in accordance with what the government had pledged.
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