SIGNATURE BANK and THE ABIA HEMORRHAGE
Have you heard the news? The Governor of Akwa Ibom, Pastor Eno is doling out some allowance of about #20,000 per month for each undergraduate of his state. This is to assist families grapple with the challenge of funding the education of their wards in this difficult times. This may not solve all the problems but it portrays the governor as a man with social conscience.
Every governor is dipping hand into the proverbial Tinubu windfall that has pauperized the masses to alleviate the hardship in their respective states except Otti of Abia state.
It is common knowledge that the governors are the net beneficiaries of the liberalization policies of the Tinubu presidency which put an end to the subsidy regimes of the past, thereby freeing resources for governments to use.
This has occasioned untold hardship in the land with the various governments providing palliative measures to cushion the adverse effects of the policy on their citizens.
But what do we find in Abia? Governor Otti is rather carrying out governance in a way that shows no compassion for the less privileged and the vulnerable in the society. Otti appears to be more concerned with his ambitious pet project of shoring up the capital base of his Signature Bank. This has led the governor to be literarily vacuuming the state Treasury of every available funds.
Non existent projects are claimed to have been executed on the government’s official website drawing the ire of enlightenment members of the Abia community who have questioned these audacious fraudulent behaviour.
A Signature Bank that couldn’t take off two years after obtaining license has today become the fastest growing bank in Nigeria.
Before May 29,2023, Signature Bank had only two branches.
But the bank that has not yet declared any profit has today grown to have more than 12 branches,…all within one Year of Otti’s tenure as Abia governor.
Abia is the only state where the governor refused to pay wage awards throughout the South East.
GOVERNOR ALEX OTTI could not even pay the old benchmark of #30,000. He rather lied and delayed doomsday by claiming he was waiting for a new minimum wage to be agreed upon.
The latest information from the NLC Abia chapter was that the governor has reneged on his promise to pay the new minimum wage.
And so , the same set of governors who paid wage awards to their state workers are also the ones that have gone ahead to implement the new minimum wage in their states. Abia workers continue to groan under an unconscionable meagre take-home.
And the question on everyone’s lips is, what is Otti hoarding money for in a time like this? Why do we have cold-minded callous men like the Abia governor in the public space?. Why would a government depend solely on propaganda to hold the people hostage, and continue to deceive them? So much money is being frittered away in the name of building “roundabouts, boundary pillars,bus stops” but the people’s welfare are not looked into.
The government has said they sacked “only 15,000 ghost workers and persons employed in the dying days of the Ikpeazu administration”
Imagine the figure!
Now with a depleted workforce, and with the huge allocations that tumble in every month,why would Governor Otti continue to subject workers to the indignity of having to beg for a living? Frankly speaking, there are many questions begging for answers.
The EFCC said they were poised to embrace a preventative approach to the fight against corruption. I don’t know how they could not have found a correlation between the speedy growth and spread of Signature Bank and the resources of Abia state.
When a substance is smelling we wash it with water.But what do you do when water is the smelling substance ?
OTTI came to power riding on the crest of tumultuous popular support. Why then has things degenerated so abysmally . Why can’t we have men who value their names more than fame, and the primitive accumulation of wealth? Must we create our own ‘Dangote’ using the meagre resources meant for the betterment of our people? What is wrong with Abia state?
It is no longer fashionable to continue keeping quiet We can no longer pretend that the man is”trying to settle down”. No! He has bared his fangs and his intentions are no longer hidden..The worst administration is any administration that is intentionally dishonest.
This is because you cannot wake up a man who is pretending to be asleep. And so we must all shout to the rooftops, and convince the connie-man that we know what he is doing.We are no longer deceived.
Nothing will change if men of goodwill choose to resign to fate, and in the process cooperate passively. And for those wanting to play safe because Otti has promised to handover to them, my advice is not far-fetched:
What do you think is the albatross hanging on Tinubu’s neck today?
Enough is Enough.
Moses A ORJI
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