The war of words between Governor Alex Otti of Abia State and his predecessor, Okezie Ikpeazu, is far from being over with raging arguments over the state’s finances.
Mr Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) served as a two-term governor of the state from 29 May 2015 to 29 May 2023, when he handed over to Mr Otti.
Mr Otti was elected governor of the state on 22 March under the Labour Party (LP) ticket.
‘How it began’
Governor Otti, in his inaugural speech, accused Mr Ikpeazu of leaving behind an empty treasury when he exited office on 29 May.
“We have a treasury that has been criminally ravaged to the extent that we have an alleged N50 billion in unpaid salaries, gratuities and pensions. Our local and foreign debt overhang is reported to be in the region of N200 billion, in addition to other debts to contractors,” the governor had said.
He later continued his accusations through his media aides– accusing Mr Ikpeazu of leaving “only debts” and zero assets for the new administration.
Mr Ikpeazu, through Ikechukwu Iroha, his media aide, would, on 10 June, deny the allegations and claimed that his administration perfected a $50 million World Bank loan and another $200 million African Development Bank loan, which he said are now available for the new administration.
The former governor insisted that the state, under his watch, was not owing any commercial bank.
He also said the new administration received N24 billion on 9 June, which he (Ikpeazu) processed.
But Mr Otti, through his special adviser on finance, refuted the claim, describing it as “fictitious.”
He added that records showed that Mr Ikpeazu left a debt of N191 billion on 28 May.
“The $200 million and $50 million they claimed they left for the new administration are loans they were pursuing which are yet to crystalise,” the governor stated, insisting that Mr Ikpeazu had not repaid some bank loans when he exited the office.
The war of words continues
Mr Ikpeazu, in his recent response through Mr Iroha, the media aide, said the commercial bank loans listed by Mr Otti’s government “were not obtained or signed off” by his administration.
“From my investigation, what I believe happened was that those were mostly borrowings done by the federal government on behalf of the 36 states of the federation,” he claimed.
“I hereby challenge Otti’s government to publish application and approval documents for the listed loans so we can all see the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
The former governor also criticised Mr Otti for failing to admit that his (Otti’s) government “actually received N24 billion” on 9 June 2023, which was processed before he (Ikpeazu) exited the office, but chose to publish “purported balance as at 28th May 2023.”
“I therefore challenge Otti’s administration to publicly state without equivocation that they have not received the money, as I stated, so that we, as citizens, can use legal instruments to compel the concerned bank and institutions to respond accordingly,” he said.
Mr Ikpeazu asked Mr Otti to “use the N24 billion and pay off a liability of N21 billion in pensions and N4.4 billion in contractor debt”, which the new administration accused him of leaving behind.
He suggested that it was ironic that Mr Otti’s administration would claim to be “ethical” in its operations but would turn around to engage in unethical conduct by hiring as his special adviser on Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Chimereze Okigbo who was allegedly “indicted by Anambra State Government for fraud”.
Mr Okigbo was allegedly sacked as a senior special adviser on IGR to Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State following allegations of diversion of IGR of the state to private accounts, according to the letter by the Executive Director (operations and other taxes) of the Anambra State Board of Internal Revenue.
The letter, dated 8 June and seen by PREMIUM TIMES, was also copied to the chairperson of Abia State Internal Revenue Service.
‘Abia to gain N6 billion’
Mr Ikpeazu also claimed that his administration, before it ended, interfaced with the Office of Accountant General of the Federation and subsequently reconciled their accounts with “N6 billion standing to the credit of the (Abia) state.”
He argued that the development implies that his government was not owing but that the federal government was owing the state.
“For the avoidance of doubt, Otti’s government is set to receive this amount this month alongside the regular monthly FAAC allocation to the state,” he stated, pointing out that the governor was unlikely to give him credit when he finally gets the funds.
He said it was improper that the new administration accused him of owing gratuity arrears to N27 billion even when successive Abia State Governments had not paid gratuities since 2001, which he inherited and paid “at least N100 million as gratuity.”
He equally alleged that Mr Otti, while in opposition, instigated labour unions in the state to embark on repeated industrial actions, which he claimed led to the withdrawal of accreditation of some state-owned institutions.
He said contrary to Mr Otti’s claims, the withdrawal of the accreditations for the institutions was reversed before he left office.
The accreditation for Abia State Polytechnic Aba was reversed on 26 August 2022, according to the letter signed by the Director of Human Resources of the National Board for Technical Education, Lawal Hafiz.
Mr Ikpeazu also said Mr Otti’s threat to use the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to “intimidate him is a fruitless tactic.”
“While we want to believe that Otti’s response to my initial article is a subtle commencement of the planned attacks against Ikpeazu, given the EFCC dimension to it, we wish to remind those concerned that those who pelt another with pebbles should expect rocks in return,” he stated.
Ferdinand Ekeoma, a media aide to Governor Otti, did not respond to calls or texts seeking his comments.
