The photograph does not disprove Governor Alex Otti’s Star Paper Mill intervention; it actually shows why the intervention became necessary.
Star Paper Mill had already become moribund long before the present administration. What Otti’s government did was to acquire the distressed asset from AMCON as part of a planned industrial-revival programme. AMCON formally handed the mill over to Abia State Government in December 2025, and the state disclosed that it paid ₦2.5 billion for the acquisition. 0
So showing pictures of the old gate and abandoned premises shortly after takeover and shouting “agents of falsehood” misses the point completely.
The government never claimed that a dead factory became a fully operational paper mill the same afternoon it was acquired. The stated plan is to rehabilitate and de-risk the asset, attract competent private-sector operators, restore production and create jobs. 1
A takeover is the beginning of revival, not the completion of revival.
In fact, the ugly condition shown in those photographs strengthens the argument for intervention. If Star Paper Mill were already modern, productive and profitable, there would have been nothing for government to recover and revive.
The proper questions are therefore: Was the asset genuinely acquired? Yes. Was it formally handed over by AMCON? Yes. Is there a publicly stated revival plan? Yes.
Let us judge Otti by whether the mill is ultimately rehabilitated and returned to productive use, not by pretending that an inherited moribund factory should magically look brand-new immediately after acquisition.
