My administration will strengthen existing relationship with Media-says Otti

Emelam Udo, Umuahia.

Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has said his administration will strengthen the existing relationship between the State Government and the media in the State.

Governor Otti stated this during the grand finale of the 2023 Press Week of the Correspondents Chapel of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Abia State held at Aguiyi Ironsi Conference Centre, Umuahia. He commended members of the press in Abia State for their support to the present administration and assured that the partnership would be sustained.

Okey Kanu, Commissioner for Information and Culture who represented Governor Otti  described the theme of the event “The 2023 Elections: A Post -Mortem, Media Perspectives In Rebuilding Public Confidence In Future Elections as apt.

The Abia Chief Executive noted that the issues of the 2023 elections were still reverberating in the nation and deserved attention .

Otti stated that he was in a hurry to rebuild Abia State and affect lives of the citizens and residents positively, noting that no amount of propaganda would distract him from his resolve to build a new Abia.

He congratulated the Correspondents Chapel of the NUJ on her Press Week and assured that he would support  the NUJ achieve her goals.

Also speaking, the Chairman of the occasion and Member representing Ikwuano/Umuahia Federal Constituency, Obi Aguocha urged the journalists to remain objective in their reportage to make the society better. He said Governor Alex Otti has the capacity to take Abia to the next level and appealed to journalists to support the Governor in  that regard.

The lawmaker, who made a case for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, a member of his constituency stressed the need for the media to collaborate with him in ensuring that he is released from illegal detention, emphasising that the release of Kanu would bring about peace in the South East as some unscrupulous individuals are hiding under the agitation to cause insecurity in Igboland.

In his goodwull message, the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor,  Kazie Uko while congratulating the Chapel on her event thanked journalists in Abia State for their support to the Governor Otti led administration from campaigns period to election and inauguration.

He said that the government of  Alex Otti was anchored on creating wealth for the citizens.

Kazie disclosed that , everything Governor Otti was doing in the State, whether in trade, agriculture, industrialization, security , ease of doing business , infrastructural development, healthcare, education among others were all geared towards creating wealth and rebuilding the State.

Earlier in his address, the Chairman, Correspondents Chapel of the NUJ in Abia State, Sam Obinna Ibe said Press Week was an occasion of appraisal and stock taking among journalist’s visa-a-vis, reviewing how journalists have adhered to the tenets of journalism. He commended Governor Alex Otti for his giant strides in Abia and the good working relationship existing between the State Government and the media in the State.

Ibe highlighted some challenges of the Chapel and the NUJ in Abia State, official vehicle for the chapel, lack of secretariat among others and appealed to Government to assist in arresting those challenges.