From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Abia chapter has tackled Governor Alex Otti over the repeal of the Abia State Governors and Deputies pension Law, saying by repealing the Law, Otti resorted to populism to draw undeserved attention to himself.
In a release signed by Abraham Amah, Abia PDP Vice Chairman/Acting State Publicity Secretary, PDP said it was wrong for the Governor to have said that he repealed a Law he never obeyed since he assumed office as Governor.
According to Amah, “The attention of the Abia PDP has been drawn once again to another attempt by the governor of Abia State, Alex Otti to resort to populism to draw undeserved attention to himself by repealing the Abia Pension Law for former governors, a law he has never obeyed since he assumed office as governor.
“Since the news made its debut, all the former governors through their spokespersons have come out to disclaim having received any pension from the State governor since he assumed office.
“So it beats our understanding why a governor who has not paid pension to his predecessors would quickly rush to repeal the law if not to massage his little ego and portray himself as a patron Saint when he is not.”
The release said Abia PDP has reasons to believe that Otti is using his office to pursue personal vendetta against the former governors as shown in this singular act which the party said has not added any value to the Abia treasury.
“Let us assume that the said pension law and some of its letters are outrageous as it is being portrayed in the public to buy cheap popularity, there is no evidence that the money saved from the non-payment of pension to former governors has been used to offset the pension arrears of Abia pensioners even many civil servants are still being owed.
“So what is the whole hullabaloo of the repeal of the Pension Law all about if not to shore up a popularity which many Abians have come to see as empty and an enterprise on the pages of newspapers and social media.”
The party regretted that it has become a penchant for the governor to go “into overdrive in his quest for vendetta and this has been displayed in reckless ways that do not even add any political value to his person.”
PDP contended that by outright repeal of the Law, does Otti mean to tell Abians that a person who served the State for either four or eight years in such high capacity and highly demanding position as governor and deputy governor does not deserve a pension, no matter how little, to take care of oneself in old age.
“Is Alex Otti more conscionable than the National Assembly that has allowed the pension of former Presidents to stay? Is he telling Abians that a governor should help himself enough while in office because the State would abandon him/her once he/she leaves office?”, the party queried.
The Abia PDP challenges Alex Otti to obey the Local Government Autonomy bill passed by Abia House of Assembly if he was so much interested in the Laws passed by the Abia House of Assembly.
“Why is he more interested in repealing the Pension Law when he has since seized the Local Government seals and centralized inflows from Local Governments? Why did he change the nomenclature of Local Government Chairman to a non-constitutional Mayoral system? Why has he not constituted the House of Assembly Service Commission? His inability to focus on these indicates that he is chasing personal glory at the expense of collective good of the masses”, PDP said.
Abia PDP however said it appreciates the little efforts Governor Otti is making to deliver good governance to Abians by building on the foundations laid by his predecessors.