Abia State governor, Dr. Alex Otti has denied claims by his predecessor, Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu that the past government left about N24bn in the state coffers.
The governor said the claim is untrue, rather the state government left debts totalling about N191,239,307,593.67.
Addressing newsmen in Umuahia on Thursday, the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma urged Abians to disregard the claim that the immediate past government left any dime in the account of the state government.
Giving details of the loan left behind by the past government in five banks, Ekeoma said,
LOAN BALANCE AS AT 28TH MAY 2023:
1 UBA (8,012,830,371.44)
2 ZENITH BANK (21,557,168,761.71)
3 UNION BANK (597,637,399.55)
5 CENTRAL BANK (47,760,302,510.12)
BANK BALANCES-TOTAL (77,927,939,042.82).
On the domestic debts owed by the immediate past government, he gave the details as follows,
7 SALARIES AND SUBVENTIONS ARREARS (18,162,102,692.92).
8 PENSION ARREARS (21,283,876,789.80)
9 GRATUITY ARREARS (27,012,996,061.64)
10 CONTRACTORS ARREARS (4,563,186,896.65)
DOMESTIC DEBTS ARREARS-TOTAL (71,022,162,441.01)
On external debts, the state government puts the figure at 42,289,206,109.84, making it a grand total of N191,239,307,593.67.
The state government stated further, “The Okezie 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 dollars they claimed they left for the new administration are loans they were pursuing which is yet to crystalize.
“Outside the humongous financial liabilities left behind by the Ikpeazu-led government, they also left physical liabilities in all our key institutions. For example;, our University Teaching Hospital lost accreditation for the first time in history.
“Our only state Polytechnic also lost accreditation. The regulatory authorities predicated their action against these institutions on Non-payment of salaries , lack of Equipment and Lack of Infrastructure.
“Poor internal generation of revenue, with the little they generated frittered away in payment to consultants for no added value. They pay as much as 20% which is highly unethical.
“Doctors who have been on strike since February 2023 just called off their strike, and they emphatically stated that they based their decision on their conviction that Governor Otti would solve the problem that necessitated the strike action.
“Finally, the elementary question is; if Ikpeazu had the billions he claimed to have left behind for the Otti led-government in April and May, why did he not pay workers and pensioners before leaving office, since Governor Otti just took over from.him on the 29th of May 2023?”
