Abia: State Where Governor’s Private Residence Is Government House

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

At last, there appears to   be a glimmer of hope that once again the Federal Government’s  intervention may  save Abians from  another self-inflicted embarrassment ,and  opprobrium.

For nearly two years, Abia State has remained unarguably, the only State which activities are conducted from the private residence of the Governor.

The unprecedented situation became too repugnant and nauseating as to draw the ire of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

At a breakfast meeting at the Presidential Villa on Monday March 10, which featured some Governors, Ministers, Party leaders, and other stakeholders, the President reportedly expressed disgust at the fact that Abia State’s Government businesses are conducted from the Governor’s private residence.

A video of President Bola  Tinubu chiding the  Governor, Dr Alex Otti, for conducting the business of Government from the inner recess of his private mansion in Isiala Ngwa South Local Council of the State has  since been trending.

According to the video clip, the President had used the occasion of the   Ramadan breakfast to  question the motive and appropriateness of Governor Otti’s  continued use of his private residence as the official seat of power of Abia  State, almost, two years in office.

For the President, money couldn’t have been the problem, as according to him, there have been enough funds at the disposal of State Governors since the removal of petroleum products subsidies in May 2023.

President Tinubu, reportedly, expressed serious reservations and disappointment over the Governor’s decision to shun the official Government House in Umuahia, the State Capital.

Yet, it was not as if Abians were before the President’s intervention deaf and dumb to the embarrassing and unusual development.

The opposition camp severally and collectively had cause to interrogate the conversion of a private residence into an official Government House.

The Peoples Democratic Party PDP, All Progressive Congress APC, and even a section of the Governor’s ruling Labour Party, LP, had all taken time out to voice their opposition to the situation.

But in all, the Governor and some choristers within the corridors of power have continued to, at best, treat the groundswell of opposition to the development as a mere distracting antics  from a bunch of frustrated and conquered political foes of yesteryear.

The closest the Governor has ever come towards addressing the situation was on Friday, March 7, 2025, during his monthly media interaction.

But  his response to many was as disappointing and unconvincing as his earlier gloating over the issue .

While responding to a question on why  he has chosen to operate from his private residence, the Governor informed that  he cannot relocate to both the Old and New Government Houses in Umuahia owing to their dilapidated conditions.

He noted that enormous resources will be needed to fix both Government Houses before they will be in shape for use.

According to him, instead of committing humongous sum to the renovation, retrofitting or outright reconstruction, he has decided to operate from his house, and channel the funds to some other  important projects.

Instructively, the same Government Houses, particularly, the old one, were used by all his  predecessors both immediate and remote.

As at the time of reporting, not a few Abians are fervently praying that the Federal authorities should once again pull through what the people have been struggling in vain to achieve in almost two years.

The Federal Government had, last year, equally came to the rescue of the people when its intervention saved the State from an avoidable crisis of which nobody could have fathomed the debt.

For the record, it took the intervention of the National Security Adviser NSA, Nuhu Ribadu, to have a State Lawmaker, Hon Aaron Uzodike, to be sworn-in about eight months after being proclaimed winner of the Aba North State Constituency election held in 2023 .

The National/State Assembly Election Appeal Tribunal sitting in Lagos had, in November 2023, declared Uzodike the winner after nullifying the earlier victory of LP’s Destiny Nwagwu.

However, for months the Speaker, Emmanuel Emereuwa, obviously backed by the Governor, flatly refused to swear-in the PDP candidate, hiding under some unimaginable and nebulous reasons.

From claiming the absence of a  consequential order in the Appeal Court judgment, to a non-existent restraining Court order, the Speaker, for eight months ignored all entreaties to swear-in Uzodike.

Expectedly, the posture of the Assembly leadership which had denied Aba North Constituency representation, led to the  heating up  of the State’s political atmosphere,with various youth groups threatening to unleash mayhem.

This Magazine gathered that an obviously disturbed NSA had to engage the Governor in a telephone discussion and expressed concern over the continued refusal to swear-in somebody who had been declared winner by a Court  of  last jurisdiction in National and State Assembly elections disputes.

Ironically, while the Governor has continued to term the renovation and reconstruction of the Government House in the State Capital, a non-priority project, not so for the State’s Government lodge in Abuja which is currently being reconstructed after its controversial demolition in 2024.

The Abuja Government House is said to be costing the State about a whopping N8 billion, enough to knock into shape the important Government House in the State capital.

Similarly, a section of the opposition in the State has alleged that three new buildings have been erected in the Nvosi Isialangwa Private residence of the Governor ever since it was converted to the State’s seat of power.

The opposition has been  raising questions about who will ultimately  claim ownership of the new properties recently built at the Governor’s residence and whose  funds were used in building them.