The Abia State Government has commenced the process of appointing a substantive Vice-Chancellor for Abia State University, Uturu, with the successful candidate expected to assume office in November 2026.

Governor Alex Otti disclosed this on Thursday in Umuahia during his monthly media chat, tagged “Governor Alex Otti Speaks to Abians.”

According to the governor, the appointment process has already begun, as the tenure of the Acting Vice-Chancellor is expected to end in October. He added that the position has been advertised and the recruitment process is underway.

“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 also disclosed that provisions had been made for the payment of pensions to the next of kin of deceased pensioners, stressing that his administration remained committed to addressing outstanding pension-related issues.

Otti said the state had recently completed the payment of outstanding gratuities owed to retirees who left service between 2001 and 2010.

“We are getting ready to deal with the remaining years from 2011 all the way to the present, based on available resources,” he said.

He explained that his administration had undertaken to gradually clear outstanding gratuities estimated at over N60 billion while putting the necessary structures in place to permanently address pension challenges in the state.

According to him, the government rolled out a contributory pension scheme for more than 36,000 workers in the state last month.

“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 further announced that the state’s Citizens’ Engagement Centre would soon be officially opened.

He said the centre would provide residents with an opportunity to ask questions, make observations and contribute ideas on government policies and programmes.

On education, the governor disclosed that his administration was reconstituting the Secondary Education Management Board (SEMB) to oversee matters relating to the management of secondary education across the state.

He also said the government had successfully recruited 4,074 new teachers to address existing manpower gaps.

Speaking on healthcare, Otti reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to providing quality and affordable healthcare services to residents.

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