Abia shops for new ABSU vice-chancellor

Abia State Government says it is shopping for a substantive Vice Chancellor for Abia State University, Uturu, who is expected to assume office in November 2026.

Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, stated this in Umuahia on Thursday, during his monthly media chat tagged “Governor Alex Otti Speaks to Abians.:

The governor disclosed that the process for appointing a substantive Vice Chancellor for the state university has started, as the tenure of the acting Vice Chancellor will elapse in October, adding that the position has been advertised.

“From first November, a substantive and new vice-chancellor would take over. Because of that, I think the advertisements have gone out, and the recruitment process has started”, Otti stated.

The governor further disclosed that provisions have been made for payment of pensions to the next of kin of deceased pensioners, stating that his administration is committed to doing the needful.

Otti, who said that a few days ago, the state started defraying outstanding gratuity for the senior citizens who retired between 2001 and 2010 and has been completed, said, “We are getting ready to deal with the remaining years from 2011 all the way to the present, based on available resources.”

His administration, he said, has undertaken to clear those gratuities amounting to over N60billion gradually, and explained that the state government is putting the necessary structures in place to address pension issues in the state permanently.

“Just last month, we rolled out a contributory pension scheme for over 36,000 workers in the state.

“What that means is that the issue of pensions and even gratuity will become seamless, since the contributory pension scheme is such that between the worker and the employer, some funds are set aside on a monthly basis to take care of the pension and gratuity that they forward you,” he added.

Otti also announced that the state Citizens’ Engagement Centre will soon be officially opened, and explained that the centre will allow residents to ask questions, make observations, and contribute ideas on government policies.

In the area of education, he disclosed that his administration is reconstituting the Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB) to handle all matters relating to secondary education management across the state, also informing that his government has successfully engaged 4,074 new teachers to fill in the gaps noticed.

On healthcare, Otti reaffirmed his government’s focus on quality and affordable healthcare services.

He noted that Abia was recently rated number one in healthcare affordability and third in healthcare quality in the 2026 Phillips Consulting State Performance Index in Nigeria.