Abia State Governor Alex Otti has said that he wants an increased revenue allocation from the Revenue Moblization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), to Abia State, to enable it achieve more development.
Otti who was speaking at his office when the delegation of the Federal Commissioner representing Abia State at the RMAFC, Mrs. Nkechi Oti, who called on him to hand over reports on her findings after her familiarisation visit and stakeholders engagements in the State.
Otti stated that an increase from the federal revenue allocation would help the State to execute many of its projects.
He also noted that he has demonstrated financial discipline, an attitude that distinguished Abia State in the report of the Debt Management Office, (DMO), which was recently released.
He said; ‘Anything you can do to help us increase our Federal allocation will be very much appreciated by your State and by the government. Once again, thank you for the report. I will take my time and read through it.
‘We have a lot of things on our hands. If we get more money to be able to execute them, why not? Particularly, we have also shown financial discipline.
‘I am sure you may have seen the report that came out last week, which shows that our State has done well in terms of reduction of debt.
‘That could only have happened because we are disciplined in terms of how we spend. We only spend when it is absolutely necessary and for the right reasons’.
While thanking Mrs. Oti for the observations they made in various areas and agencies of the State government, the Governor explained that his government is a responsible one, and believes that things should be done properly.
On the issue of over staffing observed in ASOPADEC by the Federal Commissioner, Otti assured that he would handle it urgently.
He said: ‘I will also engage further with ASOPADEC to understand what their problem is. The truth is that, we do not want to throw people into the job market.
‘What I had instructed was some form of restructuring. If there is excess capacity, they could be sent somewhere else rather than putting them in the unemployment queue.
‘The Head of Service should also be part of this meeting. It should happen as quickly as tomorrow, so that we can look at the headcount and know how to send some people to other places’.
Speaking earlier, Mrs. Oti said that she was in the State for a familiarisation visit, having been appointed into office few months ago.
She further noted that her team had visited various agencies and stakeholders and discovered that the Governor has done great in many areas including road infrastructure, digitalization of IGR, upgrading of public schools, healthcare centres and the employment of over five thousand teachers among others.
Mrs. Oti noted some challenges surrounding their findings, including over staffing of ASOPADEC, need for community engagements with oil producing areas among others.
