…Says Otti to build new one at old site
Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Abia State Commissioner for Information, Prince Okey Kanu, has said that the new Government House claimed to be completed and inaugurated by the immediate past administration of Okezie Ikpeazu, “is uninhabitable and was never meant to be a residential building.”
He was reacting to the claims by Ikpeazu’s aides that the new Government House located at Ogurube layout Umuahia, was abandoned by Governor Alex Otti.
The Commissioner who spoke during a facility tour of the complex, said that “the structure lacks so many facilities to be called a Government House.”
He said: “This place appears inhabitable. There are no wardrobes anywhere. Most of what we saw were just halls, empty halls.
“Did anybody see any wardrobe in any of the floors? There were no wardrobes. So this place was never meant, at the initial, to be a residential house.
“And one begins to wonder, the person and persons that designed this so called Government House. One begins to wonder what they had in mind when they designed this kind of Government House and expected a Governor, to come and live in this kind of place.”
Prince Kanu who insisted that the building was not completed, accused aides of the former Governor of peddling lies.
“And there is only the first floor that appears to have been finished. The rest of the floors were not finished.
“Of course, when Dr. ALex Otti spoke about this Government House a few days ago, John Okiyi went to Arise, to go and, as usual, spew falsehood.
“Almost everything he said was a lie. Now I brought you people (press men) here to see for yourselves and to confirm what Dr. Alex Otti said.
“You can see a lot of the places were not plastered, the elevator, non-installed. The whole place looks dangerous. If anybody missteps there, you can fall through the place to your death,” Prince Kanu stated.
According to Kanu, “the past administration quickly rushed down there and put up the structure as a ploy to deceive members of the public that it is a Government House.
“Granted, you will see a few furniture here. But that is as much as you can see. Nothing on the next floor.
“They misused the resources of the state to put up this gigantic edifice that is meant to achieve nothing, so to speak. This place is not habitable.”
Kanu further said that “even the location of the building is a security risk as there are a lot of buildings around the complex,” maintaining that “whatever Mr John Okiyi kalu said as a rebuttal on Arise TV is lies meant to deceive Nigerians.”
The commissioner disclosed that the Governor has directed that a new Government House be built at the place the old Government House is situated.
He also debunked what he called “the lies and insinuations that the old Government House was a rented apartment.”
“And let me debunk another lie. Before now, they said that, that old Government House was a rented apartment. It was not a rented apartment.
“That property was acquired, duly acquired by the other state government, but those people who were in office before now were busy paying themselves rent from government coffers, deceiving the public that they were paying rent for a Government House.
Prince Kanu, who further said that government has plans to build a Government House at the old government site, disclosed that the supposed Government House at Ogurube layout will be turned into a five-star hotel.
He said Governor Otti, being a responsible Governor would not allow waste and would never misuse the resources of Abians
Kanu solicited the continued support of Abians for Gov. Otti, urging them to disregard the propaganda by the opposition and cronies of the former Governor.
