Otti Wants Enhanced Federal Allocation from RMAFC, Says He Runs Prudent Govt

Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogoin Umuahia

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has urged the Revenue Moblisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission(RMAFC) to help the state get more revenue in federal allocation.

He made the demand Sunday when he received in audience a delegation of the RMAFC led by Abia’s representative, NkechiOti, that came to present reports on her findings after familiarisation visit and stakeholders engagements in the state.

A government house release said that Governor Otti was in his office on Sunday to receive the RMAFC team.

Abia is believed to be losing huge revenues in federal allocations following the unresolved issue of its oil wells ceded to neighbouring Rivers State.

“Anything you can do to help us increase our federal allocation will be very much appreciated by our state and by the government,” Governor Otti told the RMAFC team.

“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”.

The Abia State chief executive said he has demonstrated financial discipline, which distinguished Abia in the recently released  report of the Debt Management Office (DMO).

Otti said the DMO report showed that Abia “has done well in terms of reduction of debts”, adding that it “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,”  he stated.

While thanking the RMAFC Commissioner  for the observations made concerning various areas and agencies of Abia government, Otti said that he has noted them and would take appropriate action.

According to him, his government is a responsible one which believes that things should be done properly, adding that he would take time to read the RMAFC report.

On the issue over staffing the RMAFC team observed in the Abia State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ASOPADEC), Otti promised to tackle the issue urgently.

However, he foreclosed the possibility of retrenchment in the agency because “we do not want to throw people into the job market”, adding that “I will also engage further with ASOPADEC to understand what their problem is”.

“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,” he explained.

The governor said the Abia Head of Service would be part of the meeting where “we can look at the headcount(in ASOPADEC) and know how to send some people to other places”.

The Abia Federal Commissioner in RMAFC had earlier stated she was in the state for a familiarisation visit, having been appointed into office few months ago.

She noted that her team had visited various agencies and engaged with stakeholders during her visit, and has discovered that Governor Otti has done great in many areas.

Mrs. Oti listed some of the areas of good performance noticed in Abia to include road infrastructure, digitalization of IGR, upgrading of public schools, healthcare centres and the employment of over five thousand teachers, among others.

The Abia representative in RMAFC pointed out some challenges contained in their findings, including over staffing of ASOPADEC, need for community engagements with oil producing areas, among others.