FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo, while commending Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, for his quick assent to the law repealing the payment of pension payment to ex-governors and their deputies by the state House of Assembly, urged other governors in the country to follow Otti’s step.
Speaking when he visited Otti at his country home in Nvosi, Isiala Ngwa South Local Council, Obasanjo described the payment of pension to former governors and their deputies as outrageous and daylight robbery.
He commended Otti for his courage in assenting to the Bill, even as he expressed the hope that other governors would follow his footsteps, saying: “I watched the television and I saw repealing of Abia pensions and I asked you, what exactly is this? You said to me that the pension scheme for former governors here was too outrageous.
“It’s like trouble, because it allowed them to have a house in Abuja and elsewhere, and it allowed them to cart away with whatever they can. Yet, the pensions of ordinary people from 2014 are unpaid.
“What sort of leadership? You came and said there will be an end to that rascality. I congratulate you and I say to you, I hope that your colleagues will follow your footsteps.”
The former head of state Obasanjo congratulated Otti for his tenacity and for weathering the storm to become governor, reminding him that a lot of work needed to be done.
“This morning, I came in and I met you exercising, a sound mind and a sound body, and I say to you, now I know your secret. I was glad when you said you do that every other day. It’s just like me playing squash on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I think a leader must keep himself or herself in a healthy condition.
“Don’t be discouraged; you will be abused, you will be called names, but if we have one-third of our states doing what should be done, this country will be a different country,” he added.
He charged the governor to pay attention to infrastructural development of the state, saying with infrastructure and good leadership, the state would attain greater heights.
Obasanjo described Abia and the Southeast people in general as industrious and enterprising, adding that what they required to achieve greatness was good leadership that would give them encouragement and support.
Otti assured the former President that his administration was focused and single-minded on infrastructural development, especially in Aba, noting: “I want to also thank you for supporting our decision to repeal the pension law for former governors and former deputy governors.
“I had said yesterday as I signed the Bill into law that I strongly believe that leadership is stewardship and if you’ve come to serve the people, you can’t at the same time be fleecing the people.”
