Days of taking Abia money as blood tonic are over – Otti chides politicians

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti has lamented that money belonging to Abia State was shared as blood tonic by some persons in the past.

This is even as he charged heads of various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to devise workable and enduring strategies on improved State IGR.

Otti, who stated this at the Government House, Umuahia, on Saturday, during a follow-up retreat where heads of MDAs led their teams to present strategies on shoring up the State’s fiscal base, said Abia would no longer depend on loans to funds the 2024 budget if its IGR is shored up.

The Governor said elsewhere, governments generate income to undertake expenditure, describing as a misnomer, a situation where States go to the Federal government cap-in-hand for allocation.

He expressed hope that if the right thing is done, by the end of the year, the State would not have borrowed as much as it put in the budget.

Governor Otti also used the occasion to clarify the repealing of the pension law for ex-governors and their deputies in the State, saying it was a cost-cutting system, and not a political witch-hunt targeted at any individual.

He advised politicians who allegedly shared Abia’s money as blood tonic in the past, to understand that the days of blood tonic politics are over.

“We don’t believe that politics is a business. We believe that people should have things they are doing before coming to serve, and if you have offered yourself to serve, then you should be willing to make the required sacrifices.

“If you find yourself in this place, you should count yourself lucky that people believe in you, gave you their support and their votes.

“It is a privilege, and the least that is expected of you is to make sacrifices for the betterment of the State.

“So, the days of sharing money are over, the days of blood tonic politics are also over. This is the time to make sacrifices for the interest of the State,” he said.

In his speech, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Mike Akpara, said there was a need to change the narrative, adding that the government must do things differently through the generation of an enormous IGR.

He explained that the Abia public would not be taxed unduly but based on what the government promised them.