REJOINDER TO BARRISTER KALU KALU, ADC GOVERNORSHIP CANDIDATE FOR ABIA STATE.
Re: Your Challenge on Projects by Governor Alex Chioma Otti in Ohafia Local Government Area.
Barrister Kalu Kalu,
I am responding to you on my capacity as the current House of Assembly member representing Ohafia South State Constituency in the Abia State House of Assembly, being one of the two consituencies that is within Ohafia LGA over your recent public challenge, in which you dared Governor Alex Chioma Otti to identify even one project executed by his administration in Ohafia Local Government Area and pledged to abandon your 2027 governorship ambition if any is shown, has been noted. As a son of Ohafia, your concern for the area is understandable. However, the claim that the Otti administration has done nothing tangible in Ohafia LGA is inaccurate, contradicted by publicly available records, commissioning events, official government statements, and on-ground evidence.
Below is a clear listing of key projects and interventions delivered or advanced under Governor Alex Otti in Ohafia LGA and its immediate environs, executed through the state government, its ministries, agencies, and the Greater Ohafia Development Agency (GODA).
Major Road Infrastructure:
Abiriba–Ohafia Highway (22.5 km section): Fully reconstructed and commissioned by Governor Otti on 28 May 2026 as part of activities marking his third anniversary in office. This forms a critical segment of the 67-kilometre Umuahia–Uzuakoli–Isiukwuato–Alayi–Abiriba–Ohafia corridor. The road was renamed Chief Otisi Kalu (Abbot) Road. Official Ohafia Local Government records and the Abia State Government projects list confirm this commissioning, attended by state officials and community stakeholders. The Abiriba Ring Road component was also addressed in the same intervention.
Ohafia–Arochukwu Highway (41.4 km) Flagged off by Governor Otti in August 2024 at Old Soldier Junction, Ebem Ohafia. This long-abandoned federal road, critical to over 60 communities, is under reconstruction by the state government (with necessary federal approvals). Work continues as part of the administration’s drive to restore the agricultural and economic corridor linking Ohafia and Arochukwu.
- Additional internal roads in Ohafia LGA and connecting routes (including sections involving Abiriba–Nkporo) have been completed or are ongoing under the Ministry of Works as part of the statewide 414 completed road projects covering over 864 km by mid-2026, with dozens more under construction.
These are not abstract claims. The Abiriba–Ohafia section was publicly commissioned; the Ohafia–Arochukwu flag-off occurred in Ebem Ohafia itself.
Power and Electrification
Contrary to claims of nearly a decade without electricity, the Otti administration has executed a major intervention: completion of a 20-kilometre 33KV power line from Ihechiowa (Arochukwu) to Ebem, Ohafia, terminating at a newly installed 7.5MVA injection substation. State officials, including the Commissioner for Power and Public Utilities, have confirmed that final-stage installations are aimed at restoring electricity supply across Ohafia LGA. This project was inspected and positively noted during a 2026 tour by a presidential media team.
Healthcare Interventions (Ministry of Health and Primary Healthcare Development Agency)
- Reconstruction and upgrade works are ongoing at Ohafia General Hospital as part of the statewide programme covering general hospitals in strategic locations.
- Multiple Primary Healthcare Centres in Ohafia LGA have been retrofitted, equipped, and functionalised under Project Ekwueme and related initiatives. Specific examples include:
- Elughu Community Health Centre in Nkporo (handover ceremony involving the Governor’s representative and Ohafia LGA leadership).
- Ania Primary Health Centre (Akanu Ohafia) and others such as those in Amangwu Ohafia, Amaekpu Ohafia, Ihenta, Okagwo Agboji, and Ugwufie, which received upgrades including modern labour rooms, ultrasound machines, and related equipment.
- Broader support includes solarisation efforts for PHCs, recruitment and deployment of healthcare professionals statewide (benefiting Ohafia facilities), and community health oversight structures involving Ohafia stakeholders.
Water and Community Projects:
Solar-powered borehole and water reticulation projects have been delivered in communities such as Isiugwu Ohafia (Ania ward – which is your immediate ward), Ozua Amogudu, and Nkporo, improving access to clean water.
Greater Ohafia Development Agency (GODA)
In a deliberate institutional response to ensure balanced development of the northern senatorial zone (with Ohafia at its core), Governor Otti signed the Greater Ohafia Development Authority (GODA) Bill into law in October 2024 and inaugurated its Board shortly thereafter. Prof. Awa Kalu, SAN, serves as Chairman, with Engr. Obinna Odum as Director-General and other competent members. GODA was expressly created as a robust vehicle for accelerated socio-economic transformation of Greater Ohafia and environs, modelled after the successful Greater Aba Development Agency. Its establishment, legal backing, board composition, and ongoing mandate constitute a foundational achievement of the Otti administration specifically targeted at the Ohafia axis. The agency continues to coordinate and drive development interventions in the area.
Other Cross-Cutting Interventions
Participants from Ohafia LGA have benefited from the Abia TechRise programme (training in AI, software engineering, machine learning, UI/UX, etc.). Statewide policies on free and compulsory basic education, teacher recruitment, health insurance enrolment, civil service reforms, and fiscal discipline also deliver tangible benefits to Ohafia residents through improved services and resource allocation.
Governor Otti’s administration has completed hundreds of road projects and hundreds of PHC interventions across Abia’s 17 LGAs, including the northern zone. The specific challenge of “show one project in Ohafia” is met by the commissioned Abiriba–Ohafia Highway alone, reinforced by the Ohafia–Arochukwu reconstruction, construction of the Amaekpu ring road, construction of Asaga / Amuke Road (Ugwu Iyiebi or Ugwu FEDECO), construction of Abia to Umuchi Ihechiowa road by GODA, construction of the first part of Ndi Orieke road, while the second portion is still being constructed, Construction of Asaga ring road (Ohafor ward), electrification works/Restoration of Ohafia electricity, multiple health facility upgrades, water projects, and the creation and operationalisation of GODA and building of GODA headquarters at Amaekpu Ohafia.
Facts, not rhetoric, should guide public discourse. The people of Ohafia, like other Abians, can visit these sites, review official commissioning records, and assess the work themselves. Governance is measured by delivery, not by selective denial of visible progress.
We invite objective verification rather than continued dismissal of documented achievements. The New Abia continues to prioritise even development across all zones.
It is very surprising to note that a candidate of a political party in a state didn’t know of a project (Reteoffiting and functionalization of the Ukpacha Public Health Centre, Akanu) delivered in his immediate community (Akanu Ohafia). This shows the level of disconnection between the said governorship candidate and his immediate community, one will wonder what he will know concerning the LGA at large, talk less of how to administer or govern a whole state if given the mandate (God forebide).
Governance or governing a state is not school unionisim or an act of one showing racality.
I, the sitting House of Assembly member representing you hereby challenge you to carry out your threats as you stated in a National Television that you will resign if shown only one project executed by the current government in Ohafia LGA, unless you want Abians to take you as Wike who always talk from both sides of his mouth by saying one thing today and saying another tomorrow.
May I use this medium to advise you to stop making ultrances that will put Ohafia LGA in bad light before the government of the day as the governor have been very magenimous enough for Ohafia LGA with the avalenge of appointments given to Ohafia sons and daughters including the number two person position in the state (The Deputy Governor).
Hon. Chief Kalu MBA NWOKE (ETIOKWE),
Member Representing Ohafia South State Constituency,
8th Assembly,
Abia State House of Assembly.
