Otti Pushes Deep Reforms as Abia Begins Clearing 20-Year Pension Debt
Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, says his administration is taking bold structural steps to correct decades-long financial distortions as the state prepares to begin phased payments of gratuities and pensions owed since 2001.
Speaking during his monthly media engagement in Umuahia, Otti framed the long-awaited settlement not just as a financial obligation, but as part of a wider overhaul designed to restore public trust, improve governance systems and reposition Abia for sustainable growth.
According to the Governor, a joint committee made up of officials from his administration and the Nigerian Union of Pensioners has completed a comprehensive verification exercise—an audit that exposed over N60 billion in outstanding pension liabilities accumulated across different administrations.
Calling the backlog “a staggering inheritance,” the Governor stressed that responsible leadership demands confronting both assets and liabilities without excuses. He assured retirees that although the debt is enormous, payments would commence gradually and consistently.
Beyond pensions, Otti used the media chat to highlight the state’s broader reform agenda. He confirmed that salary payments for civil servants remain up to date, and ordered immediate resolution of a recent payment glitch affecting newly recruited teachers, insisting that “no one goes home this weekend until every owed teacher is paid.”
Abia’s expanded recruitment drive has also attracted interest nationwide, with nearly 28,000 applications submitted for 4,000 new teaching positions. Otti, reiterating his zero-tolerance for manipulation, promised a strictly merit-based process. A similar reform is underway in the health sector, where recruitment has drawn applicants from outside Nigeria.
The Governor applauded new National ratings by SBM Intelligence, which ranked Abia highest in emergency medical preparedness, and referenced the state’s top position on the Kevlin Index for intra-city transport affordability. With new electric buses arriving, the State expects transport costs to drop even further before year-end.
Otti outlined additional progress in infrastructure and land administration, revealing that over 30,500 Certificates of Occupancy have been issued since the launch of the automated 30-day C-of-O policy—far more than many states achieve in nearly a decade.
On revenue generation, he emphasized fairness and due process, noting that all debtors—regardless of status—would be pursued by the Harmonised Task Force only after proper notices and court approval.
The Governor also highlighted ongoing improvements in the education sector, including curriculum upgrades, school renovation projects, and the restoration of accreditation for 24 academic programmes. He praised innovations at state-owned institutions, where students now manufacture waste-management materials used across Abia.
Otti further listed enhanced facilities at the NYSC camp in Bende and ongoing support for the Nigerian Correctional Service, including new perimeter fencing and efforts to identify inmates eligible for state pardon.
Overall, the governor described the reforms as part of a deliberate migration from past administrative failures toward the “Abia we envisioned”—a state built on transparency, human-centered governance, and long-term structural change.
