OTTI INAUGURATES ABIA GLOBAL ECONOMIC ADVISORY COUNCIL

REPORTER: PEACE AGBO

Abia State Government has inaugurated the Abia Global Economic Advisory Council (AGEAC) with the aim of transforming the state into a preferred investment destination for global businesses.

The Council has a former DG, Nigerian Stock Exchange Commission, Ms Arunma Oteh as Chairman with other eighteen highly distinguished Nigerians with global recognition in economics.

They included a former CBN Governor and 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi the 2nd; and Mr. Bolaji Balogun as Co-Chairmen.

Speaking during the inauguration at the government House Umuahia, Governor Alex Otti said the council would work with the Abia State Government and other local stakeholders, including the Abia Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, to bring opportunities inherent in the state to the attention of global investors.

While highlighting the state’s commitment to infrastructural development and a focus on health and education evident in the 2024 budget, Governor Otti explained that the council would also assist the state government achieve its vision within the next 24 months.

The Governor, who advised them to focus on grabbing opportunities and overcoming challenges, thanked members of the Abia Global Economic Advisory Council for their commitment to serving the state and reassured them of the state government’s support and implementation of all recommendations.

Earlier, the Chairman of the Abia State Global Advisory Council, Ms. Oteh, who commended the achievements of Governor Otti so far in the state, noted that the inauguration of the council was apt to improve more on the economic wellbeing of Abia State.

She gave the Governor an assurance that the Council would support his vision towards making Abia the fastest growing economy among other states in the country.

For their parts, the Co-Chairmen of the Council, former CBN Governor and 14th Emir of Kano, Muhammed Sanusi II; and a doyen of financial market in Nigeria, Mr. Bolaji Balogun, said that Abia State urged the Governor, as a member of the National Economic Council, to pursue policies that would place Abia on the path of greater peace and prosperity.

In their separate remarks, a former Military Administration of the old Imo State, General Ike Nwachukwu (Rtd) and a renowned Economist, Dr. Kalu Idika Kalu, said that Governor Otti is on the right track to developing the State and expressed worry on the mass exodus of the Nigerian workforce to overseas in search of better living.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU