Output Is Not the Same as Reform: Why Alex Otti’s Abia Is Taking the Harder, Lasting Path
It is fair to acknowledge that Peter Ndubuisi Mbah has pursued a visibly aggressive, project-forward agenda in Enugu. Within two years, his administration commissioned urban roads, announced the New Enugu City vision, rolled out farm estates, revived water schemes, passed a state electricity law, and invested in transport hubs—an approach reviewed by BusinessDay in its assessment of Enugu’s infrastructure drive and smart-city ambition (https://businessday.ng/life/article/two-years-of-evidence-in-enugu-state-celebrating-governor-peter-mbahs-two-years-in-office/). Output is undeniable. But governance is not only about how many projects move at once; it is about the institutional soil those projects grow from—and whether they will endure.
That distinction is where Alex Otti diverges sharply. When Otti assumed office in May 2023, Abia was not merely underperforming; it was institutionally broken. Salary arrears, pension backlogs, opaque procurement, and collapsed urban services were routine. Rather than chase immediate spectacle, Otti chose sequencing—repairing the state’s internal mechanics before scaling outward. Early actions focused on forensic audits of public finances and MDAs, payroll clean-ups, budget discipline, and procurement due process—steps reported by TheCable as part of a deliberate reset of fiscal credibility (https://www.thecable.ng/otti-orders-forensic-audit-of-abia-finances).
The contrast becomes clearer when “projects” are weighed against “proof.” Enugu’s output is visible; Abia’s reform is verifiable. Under Otti, salary regularisation replaced years of arrears—an outcome acknowledged in labour negotiations covered by Punch and Vanguard during 2024–2025 (e.g., https://punchng.com/abia-workers-commend-gov-otti-on-salary-regularisation/). Roadworks moved from cosmetic patching to structured reconstruction, with reopened arteries like Port Harcourt Road in Aba documented by Channels Television (https://www.channelstv.com/2024/07/19/abia-reopens-port-harcourt-road-aba/). Crucially, budget implementation began to be tracked against deliverables rather than announcements, reflected in Abia’s publicly released budget performance updates (https://abiastate.gov.ng/category/budget-performance/).
Why does this provoke panic? Reform disrupts habits. A governor who avoids election bargaining, rejects ethnic mobilisation, refuses crowd-renting, and insists on records unsettles those whose relevance depended on disorder. That discomfort explains why attacks on Otti rarely bring counter-data; they lean instead on nostalgia and revisionism. When systems replace shortcuts, noise predictably rises.
This is not a contest to diminish Enugu. It is a reminder that output and reform are not synonyms. Peter Mbah is building projects on a state whose institutions function. Alex Otti is rebuilding institutions so projects can last. One path is faster and photogenic; the other is slower but structurally transformative. Abians recognise the difference because they lived through decades where projects were announced without systems, budgets grew without outcomes, and chaos passed for politics.
Projects impress. Institutions endure. Abia has tried noise—and learned. What it is choosing now is structure.
AProf Chukwuemeka Ifegwu Eke
