Governor Alex Otti has vowed that anybody implicated in the mismanagement or theft of pension funds in the state will face prosecution.

The governor made the remark during the November edition of the monthly chat with the media at the Government House, Umuahia, on Thursday night.

Mr Otti said recent investigations revealed some civil servants were involved in pension fraud.

He said the government would work diligently to investigate and hold accountable anyone involved in pension fraud to sanitise the civil service.

“I am sure you would have heard some reports about some civil servants who were involved in pension fraud.

“We have zero tolerance for corruption; once we got convincing information, we had to arrest the people involved.

“Coincidentally, the opposition went on air to castigate the government. My question is somebody stole, and I arrested him, and you went to the press to say that I shouldn’t arrest a thief; that means you are a thief yourself.

“I think we have responded to them, and we are continuing with their prosecution,” Mr Otti said.

He said he received a report of the investigation from the security agency handling the matter and authorised that the perpetrators should be arraigned in the next few days.

On health, he said the government would soon commence the rehabilitation of the primary healthcare centres (PHCs) to improve access to quality healthcare services.

“I have just signed off the reconstruction of about 200 primary healthcare centres in the three senatorial districts and 17 local government areas.

“When we are done with the approved 200, we will move to the next 200 until we have touched every primary healthcare centre,” the governor said.

He further said the government had commenced the rehabilitation of 22 secondary healthcare centres across the state.

Mr Otti also spoke on road construction, saying a contract had been awarded for the reconstruction of some roads to further drive socioeconomic development in the state.

He listed the roads to include the 5.5-km Onuimo-Abia Tower Road, 29-km Onuinyang-Okporoenyi-Oboro-Ikwuano Road, 11.5-km Ntigha-Mbawsi-Umuala Road and 11.1-km Obehie-Umudobia-Owaza Road.

Other roads are the 11.7-km Mbala-Umuaku-Ngodo Road, Umuogo-Nsukwe Ring Road, 13-km Ohanze-Ntighauzo-Obete-Umuoha-Obende-Akirikaobo Road and 6.92-km Umuopara Ring Road.

On agriculture, he said he had approved the disbursement of funds to the 300 Abia youths sponsored by the government for training on improved agricultural practices.

He affirmed his administration’s commitment to infrastructure development and capacity building to enhance growth in the various sectors of the state’s economy.

Mr Otti said the government had significantly improved the ease of doing business in the state.

“The National Bureau of Statistics published a report that showed that our state came from number 27 in terms of attraction of foreign investment to number three out of 37, immediately following Lagos and Abuja.

“We think between June 2023 and June 2024, our state attracted almost $150.9 million to place third,” he said.

Mr Otti expressed his determination to continually work towards creating an enabling environment that will make Abia a choice destination for investors.

(NAN)