Revealed! Why Alex Otti Held Back On Building New Govt House

Speaking during an inspection of the ongoing upgrade—now underway with the reconstruction of the Governor’s Office and Lodge—Governor Otti emphasized that projects with direct impact on the lives of the people took precedence over the Government House renovation.

He explained that from the outset, his administration adopted a strategic approach, focusing on urgent needs like payment of workers’ salaries, revitalization of primary healthcare centres, rehabilitation of schools, and provision of free basic education.

“Governance is about the people,” Otti said. “Without the support of the people, leadership cannot succeed. We had to ask ourselves: what should come first? As an economist, I applied a scale of preference to determine what truly mattered.”

He continued: “We didn’t think the Government House was more important than ensuring our civil servants were paid, nor did we rank it above rebuilding our broken healthcare system or fixing our deteriorating roads and schools. We had to focus on the essentials first.”

Otti also revealed that, having addressed many of those initial challenges, the state government has now begun renovation works, including the reconstruction of the Michael Okpara Auditorium, which he said is expected to be completed by the end of June.