Victor EzejaMike Akpara, special adviser on finance to Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has debunked claims by the former governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, that he left N24 billion in the Abia State treasury.
Recently, Ikechukwu Iroha, a former media aide to Ikpeazu, reportedly claimed that the ex-governor left some billions in the state coffers before leaving office on May 29.
However, Akpara while addressing a press conference in Umuahia on Thursday, 15 June, said it was not true and accused Ikpeazu of fabricating lies with the intent of deceiving the public, especially workers and pensioners.
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Dr Otti’s adviser on finance said what the former governor left in the state was a total debt of N191 billion.
According to him, the record of the state’s financial status shows that as of 28 May 2023, the “Ikpeazu-led government did not leave any N24 billion in the account of Abia State government as they falsely claimed.”
“The $200 million and $50 million they claimed they left for the new administration are loans they were pursuing which are yet to crystallize,” he added.
Akpara further accused Ikpeazu’s administration of performing very poorly in internal revenue generation, adding that the little that was generated, was “frittered away in payment to consultants for no added value and they pay as much as 20 percent which is highly unethical.”
“The members of the Ikpeazu-led administration were busy picking money from everywhere towards the end of their tenure as the N2.8 billion from SURE-P that came in through the Union Bank a few days before the inauguration was taken by them,” he alleged.
Akpara said they were only able to stop them from taking N3 billion loan from JAAC, by going as far as “writing EFCC to stop them.”
He further argued that the fact that Ikpeazu was unable to pay April and May salaries before leaving office was another indication that there was no money in the state’s treasury.
He added that the former governor must face justice to account for the N191 billion debt, even if he joins the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“If Ikpeazu is trying to preempt anti-corruption agencies by making such provocative false claims, he should know that they work with facts and figures,” he said.
“Even if he runs into the APC to seek refuge as he is planning to do, these anti-corruption agencies would pursue and bring him to justice from there.
“Already EFCC is on their trail and as we speak some of their bankers are being invited for questioning by the agency,” Akpara stated.
A breakdown of the debt figures according to Akpara, shows that N77.9 billion is owed to three commercial banks in Nigeria (Union, Zenith, and UBA), and the Central Bank which gave the state the highest loan.
For domestic debt, the state owes N18.1 billion as salaries and subventions arrears; N21.2 billion for pension arrears; N27 billion for gratuity arrears; and N4.5 billion for contractors arrears, making a total of N71 billion (N71,022,162,441.01).
According to him, the external debt is N42.2 billion (N42,289,206,109.84).
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with six years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Masters degree in Mass Communication.
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