Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to merit-based leadership, ethical governance and a competent public service as key drivers of the state’s development.
Otti made the commitment on Tuesday, August 25, 2026, at the Abia State Leadership Academy Executive Leadership Series for political appointees and senior public servants, held at the Michael Okpara Auditorium, Umuahia, as part of activities marking the 35th anniversary of the creation of Abia State.
The programme, themed “Strengthening Government Ethical Leadership and Public Service Delivery,” focused on leadership development, institutional reforms, accountability and building a new generation of leaders capable of sustaining the state’s development beyond the present administration.
The governor said the Leadership Academy and its executive education programmes were established to deliberately build people and institutions rather than create dependence on individuals.
Recalling a conversation with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Otti said one of the major lessons he took away was that effective leaders should develop people capable of eventually surpassing their mentors.
“It is the essence of this Leadership Academy, the essence of this executive education that we are having today. That is how we want to build our own leadership,” Otti said.
The governor stressed that merit, competence and integrity would remain the foundation of his administration’s recruitment and appointment policies, saying government opportunities should be determined by ability rather than political connections.
He cited the admission process at Abia State University, particularly for professional courses such as Medicine and Law, as well as the recruitment of 5,394 teachers in the first batch and another 4,074 teachers who are currently collecting their appointment letters.
Otti also pointed to the appointment of Permanent Secretaries as another area where his administration had introduced competitive processes.
“I believe that the good thing about good governance is that once people test it, then it becomes difficult to take them back to where they are coming from.
“We had started, last week, interviewing those that had applied, were screened through computer-based testing, passed and then the oral interviews.
“Since we came in 2023, we made the appointment of Permanent Secretaries competitive. No longer, ‘this is somebody’s friend, this is somebody’s wife’, No,” the governor stated.
25-Year Development Plan
Otti said his administration had also established and legislated a 25-year development plan for Abia, designed to ensure continuity in the state’s development agenda beyond the tenure of the present administration.
He explained that the plan could only be discarded by a future administration if the relevant laws establishing it were repealed by the State House of Assembly.
The governor further emphasised the importance of reliable data, proper planning and effective supervision in achieving sustainable development.
He announced that the Abia State Bureau of Statistics would soon be established to improve the availability of reliable data for government planning and budgeting.
Otti also thanked the guest speaker, former Minister of Aviation, Chief Osita Chidoka, for what he described as a thought-provoking lecture.
Chidoka: ‘No High-Capacity State Without High-Capacity People’
Delivering a lecture titled “Strengthening Governance: Ethical Leadership and Public Service Delivery,” Osita Chidoka said the success of any government ultimately depended on the administrative capacity of its people.
He challenged political appointees to develop the competence required to translate government policies and the governor’s vision into tangible results for citizens.
Using the story of a missing pair of scissors at a commissioning ceremony, Chidoka illustrated what he described as the importance of state capacity.
He defined state capacity as “the ability of government to convert intention into execution.”
According to him, governments may formulate policies, approve budgets and announce ambitious development programmes, but political appointees and career civil servants are ultimately responsible for translating those decisions into outcomes that citizens can experience.
“There is no high-capacity State without high-capacity people,” Chidoka declared.
He urged Abia public officials to recognise that administrative capability, professionalism and competence were indispensable to effective governance.
Drawing lessons from China, Britain, Singapore and Rwanda, the former minister stressed the importance of merit, administrative capacity, execution and accountability in building institutions that can survive individual administrations.
He warned that policies without effective implementation would remain mere documents, stressing that Abia’s development ambitions must be backed by a public service capable of delivering them.
Chidoka also urged political appointees to deliberately build strong working relationships with career civil servants, noting that while political appointees may have only 48 months to deliver on an administration’s mandate, career officers could spend decades in public service.
Leadership Academy to Build Capacity
In his opening remarks, the Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Meribeole, urged political appointees and senior public servants to uphold competence, integrity, accountability and transparency in the discharge of their responsibilities.
He described public office as a position of trust, stressing that decisions taken by government directly affect the lives of citizens.
Meribeole said the Executive Leadership Series was one of the activities marking Abia’s 35th anniversary and stressed that sustainable development required strong institutions, ethical leadership and a competent public service.
He urged political appointees and career civil servants to work together as one government towards achieving Otti’s vision for the state.
The President of the Abia State Leadership Academy, Prof. Kenneth Kalu, said the academy also runs Executive Education and Enterprise Development programmes aimed at equipping emerging and established leaders with transformational leadership skills while strengthening the capacity of small businesses in areas including financial and management practices.
Kalu described the Executive Education Programme as a significant milestone and urged participants to apply lessons from the session in their respective offices to improve public service delivery.
The event was attended by Deputy Governor, Engr. Ikechukwu Emetu, FNSE; commissioners; permanent secretaries; political appointees and other senior government officials.
