………..649 Medical Personnel Employed.
FIC Report (Abia State) – The Abia State Government has announced major strides in electricity regulation and infrastructure, describing them as the backbone driving ongoing reforms in the health and transport sectors across the state.
Briefing journalists after the State Executive Council meeting chaired by Governor Alex Otti, the Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, disclosed that the Abia State Electricity Regulatory Commission (ASERA) will, before the end of January, issue a comprehensive order to regularise all electricity activities in the state.
This follows the release of the final Transfer of Regulatory Authority Order by the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to ASERA.
According to Kanu, the move will ensure quicker resolution of consumer complaints, stronger consumer protection, improved service delivery, and a fair balance between electricity operators and consumers in Abia State.
Providing updates on the state’s electric bus initiative, the Commissioner said the arrival of additional charging stations will significantly increase the number of Electricity Bus charging points across the state.
He explained that this development follows the installation of a 2MVA, 33/10.415AB distribution substation at the Umuahia Central Bus Terminal.
Sir Kanu recalled that, in a bid to offer free bus services to Abians during the yuletide, the Ministry of Transport had earlier installed temporary charging stations for the electric buses.
With the new infrastructure, he said all necessary support systems are now being put in place to guarantee a smooth and hitch-free commencement of full electric bus operations at the terminal.He added that work on the substation has reached about 80 per cent completion, with commissioning expected by the end of the month.
On developments in the health sector, the Commissioner revealed that the state has so far employed 649 medical personnel out of the 771 approved for recruitment. Of this number, 422 are nurses who have been deployed to primary healthcare centres currently being equipped and functionalised across the state.
Notably, Kanu disclosed that some of the newly recruited health workers had opportunities to work abroad but chose to remain in Abia State, citing their confidence in Governor Alex Otti’s leadership and the sweeping reforms in the health sector.
“Among the newly recruited medical personnel are those who have access to work overseas, who have chosen to come and work for the state government,
“because of the confidence they have in the leadership style of the Governor and the massive reforms being carried out in the state’s health sector.
“Recently, a neurosurgeon was employed amongst this new set of medical personnel, someone who is an expert in this field and has a very rare speciality in medical practise”, Prince Kanu stated.
He further announced that the Forum of Academic Doctors has recently rated Governor Otti as the best-performing governor in the South-East, in recognition of the massive transformation recorded across key sectors of governance.
In a related development, Prince Kanu announced a ban on illegal parking of commercial vehicles on city roads, following government observations of indiscriminate parking by bus operators in Umuahia. He warned that defaulters risk having their vehicles impounded as enforcement begins in earnest.
Consequently, the Abia State Ministry of Housing will soon flag off the construction of a Civil Service Commission, Pocket Layout Estate in Umuahia as agreements have equally been reached by developers to construct various housing estates.
According to the Commissioner, the move to construct housing estates across the state, which would be done through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement is in line with the vision of Governor Otti to provide for the welfare of Abians.
“In line with the Governor’s vision to provide for the welfare of Abia citizens in terms of housing, the State Ministry of Housing will soon flag off the construction of a Civil Service Commission, Pocket – Layout Estate in Umuahia.
“This will provide quality and affordable housing to Abians. Also, the Ministry is in serious discussions with private developers, under the Public Private Partnership model for the proposed estates at Mbaisii and Mgbarakuma-Ubakala Umuahia.
“The Ministry is on the verge of signing necessary agreements for the developers to move to site without delay”, Prince Kanu noted.
Contributing, the Commissioner for Housing, Architect Chiemela Uzoije, while explaining the reason behind the adoption of the name of the estate located at the former Civil Service Commission premises, said the housing estates, which is for all, would be affordable.
He maintained that the housing projects are in line with the determination of Governor Otti to change the narrative about public housing in the state and revealed how the estates would be developed.
“Some of them (estates) are going to be built by us. But the case of the civil service layout is what we call it because, it’s where the Civil Service Commission used to be.
“As a matter of fact, it’s not just for civil servants alone. It’s for the generality of abians. So civil servants are included.
“We’re about to kick start some of our major projects. As a matter of fact, we’ve already done that because last year, sometime before the end of last year, we signed off with one of the developers who is currently working at Obehie in Ukwa West.
“That is what we call a site and services scheme. In other words, he’s developing the estate for us in conjunction with the state government, and then at the end of the day, we’ll passulate the plots and allow them for people to build.
“So that whole area (former Civil Service Commission premises) , we’re going to turn it into an estate for Abians and it’s going to be for medium income and a segment of the high income class.
“In that place, we’re going to have some blocks of flats. We’re going to have some semi-detached duplexes and standard duplexes. We want to bring a new narrative into the housing sector of the state, because you can agree with me that so far, we don’t really have very functional housing estates in Abia state” Architect Uzoije explained.
Architect Uzoije further said that a combination of models are being applied for the estate development projects.
“The PPP model is going to come into place. Already it’s in place at Obehie, Ukwa West. We are going to use the same model from Mgbarakuma and part of Ubakala, because we also have the intention of getting a new estate around there.
“But then, the ones inside the town, because of the way they are going to impact on our people in terms of creating jobs, the multiplier effect on the society, we want to make sure that people’s income will be beefed up because so many people are going to be involved.
“So like the Civil Service Commission, the government is going to handle that one and then we are going to create a lot of jobs.
“But these other ones, the government is giving out the land. The government is also participating in the implementation of the housing estate. It’s not as if once we give out the land, then we go backwards. No.
The government is going to be part and parcel of the day-to-day management of these estates in order to be sure that they are going to be delivered at the end of the day” Architect Uzoije noted.
According to him, the combined reforms in electricity regulation, transport infrastructure and healthcare delivery underscore the Otti administration’s commitment to building a functional, modern and people-centred Abia State.
Signed
Abiakam Gloria Ifeyinwa
HOC, FIC Umuahia Abia State.
January 20,2026.
