Otti Backs Major Real Estate Collaboration With Capital City Development

By Oluchi Chibuzor

The Abia State government led by governor, Dr. Alex Otti, and the management team of Capital City Development Ltd( CCDL), a real estate company, with headquarters in Port Harcourt, has concluded plans to explore and develop the state’s real estate potential.

This is as the governor said that now is the right time to invest in the state as they have been working for the last 23 months to create an enabling environment for businesses.

Otti , while welcoming the team of CCDL led by the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer (MD/CEO), Arc. Uche Arunsi Kalu in Abia, said his government is keen on opening up the state for business.

Governor Otti directed further engagement with the government’s team while commending the CCDL for coming to invest in Abia State.

He urged the firm to identify land they may want to develop while the government issues them a Certificate of Occupancy to then go ahead with their business.

He advocated for a structured payment system for people like civil servants and low-income earners who may not have the money to pay at once.

He acknowledged that everything about the public sector ends up with the private sector, explaining that part of what his government is doing is to open up the state and create the enabling environment for businesses to thrive.

According to him, “A lot of times, people misunderstand location to mean a spot or a place; yes, it is a spot and a place, but it is more than that. It is the environment; it is the infrastructure; it is the access, and it is that environment defined by human beings. If you have a beautiful location and you don’t have people who would live and afford that location, then it is not the right location.”

The governor said that his administration has focused more on creating an enabling environment in the last 23 months, acknowledging that, although appreciable effort has been made in that regard, more improvements are needed.

“We believe that this is the right time to begin to think of real estate investments. Before now, people had approached us from South Africa and other parts of the world. We have not been too responsive,” the governor stated.

Earlier in his speech, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the CCDL, Kalu, who hails from Abia State, thanked Governor Otti for his transformational leadership in Abia State.

He commended Otti’s government’s effort in removing the barriers that prevented them from coming to Abia to Invest before now, having done well in neighboring Rivers State, where they have their Company’s headquarters.

According to him, “Capital City Development Limited (CCDL) is a wholly indigenous real estate development company registered in Nigeria, with complimentary competencies in Project Design, Project Management, and Construction Our shared vision focuses on providing a good living experience through all tiers of our addressable market.”

The Abia-born Real Estate mogul with presence in 14 States of the federation said Abia remains a state they want to explore.

According to him, “We wanted to scale up our business, having consistently maintained a turnover running into tens of billions for some years. Having considered many locations for the scale-up, we asked ourselves why not Abia, looking at what the governor is doing. When we looked at everything going on in Abia State, I asked myself, why not Abia?”

In her vote of thanks, the company’s executive director , Mrs. Nkwawi Kalu commended governor Otti for changing the story of Abia, noting that as a firm, they strive to provide ethical and creative solutions towards solving the housing challenges for individual, corporate, and governmental housing needs.

She commended the wife of the governor, Mrs. Priscilla Otti, for her humanitarian works and empowerment programmes in the State, which she said that they have been following.

She went on to donate 100 quality Ankara Wrappers to support the good works of the First Lady.