The Governor of Abia State, Alex Otti, has said the State was left in a very bad shape by his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu.
Otti said this when he appeared on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Thursday while responding to a question on how he met the state when he assumed office in May, 2023.
“Absolutely, very, very bad shape, but I am not complaining. I have folded my sleeves and I am just dealing with what I met here,” Otti, who was elected on the platform of the Labour Party, LP, said.
He wondered what his predecessor used the money he borrowed for, since there is nothing to show for it.
“My worry is not really about debt, it is about what the debt is used for. If you inherited a debt profile of N34.4 billion by May 29, 2015 and eight years later you ran that debt to about N192.2 billion; I really can’t see anything that you have done with the money, salaries were not being paid, pensioners were being owed, infrastructure was decaying, the place got into ruins, schools were run down completely, hospitals were dilapidated.
“So, the issue is where did the money go? If I am going to take debt, it is going to go into regenerative expenditure. But when you are taking loans and you are running the state into debt, just for consumption, you are not investing in the state; you are not paying salaries; that’s actually what I was talking about,” he said.
Reacting, John Kalu, former Commissioner for Information, Trade and Investment under ex-Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu’s government, said part of the money borrowed was the $3.56 million the then government invested in Aba Geometric Power, owed by former Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji.
He noted that Nnaji confirmed the investment in a letter to Otti on February 28 2024.
He added that the investment was in the handover note to Otti’s administration on May 29 2023.
“My attention has been drawn to a statement credited to Governor Alex Otti, through his spokesperson, that his government has received a letter from Prof Barth Nnaji, Chairman/CEO of Geometric Power, that the administration of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu paid at least $3.56 million to purchase stakes in the company for the people of Abia State.
“I have also privately sighted the letter written by Prof Barth Nnaji to Governor Alex Otti on February 28 2024, wherein he confirmed that the previous Abia State Government led by Dr Okezie Ikpeazu bought 3.5% equity in Geometric Power.
“While the government of Alex Otti is free to rigmarole to minimize the damage to its battered lying machinery, it must be noted that the government brought this public odium upon itself”, he said.
However, Kalu failed to fully explain how his principal spent all the money borrowed under his administration.
