Government House that cost billions of naira to build, located in private residential area not safe for Governor
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Abia government says the new Government House in Umuahia, which Governor Alex Otti had thought to demolish because it lacks adequate facilities, will now be converted to a five-star hotel.
Information Commissioner Okey Kanu said the edifice, commissioned by former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu a day before he left office, lacks necessary facilities and is built in a private residential area that could expose Otti to security threats.
Ikpeazu’s administration inherited the project – at Ogurute Layout in Umuahia, a few metres from the State Secretariat – from his predecessor, Theodore Orji, who initiated and built it up to the roofing stage.
The Orji administration did not disclose the amount spent on the project but a statement issued on 29 October 2012 said it paid N175 million just for its fencing.
Kanu explained on Thursday while conducting journalists round the building that it does not have a functional elevator and the interior of the upper floors are in a shambles without necessary facilities.
He said only the first floor is completed and furnished while the upper ones have many structural defects despite the huge public funds spent on the project.
He refuted the statement made by former Information Commissioner John Okiyi Kalu who accused Otti of ruling Abia with propaganda against the administration of Ikpeazu.
In Kanu’s view, “This place is not habitable and if you look around the Government House where it is situated, you will see a lot of private buildings around here looking into this place.
“From the point of security, it is not even ideal for the Governor to live in and it could pose a serious security risk for the Governor to live in, assuming he were to live here.
“The government of the day has decided to turn this place into a five-star hotel. The reason is that this place was not well built.”
He urged the public to disregard reports that the Government House is completed.
Since he assumed office on 29 May 2023, Otti has lived and worked from his private country home in Umuru Umuehi, Nvosi, in Isiala-Ngwa South Council of the state.
There is an old Government House in Umuahia where his predecessors worked from, but he explained it would cost a huge sum of money to renovate for him to occupy it, an amount he said the state treasury cannot afford amid pressing demands in other areas of public need.
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