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Former Commissioner for Information; Trade & Investment under former Abia State Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu has made further clarifications on the controversial forensic audit report recently released by the government of Alex Otti.<\/p>\n

Kalu who reeled out some of Ikpeazu\u2019s achievements while in the saddle gave a blow by blow details on how the idea of an airport was conceived and executed.<\/p>\n

The details were contained in a statement released to the media on Sunday.<\/p>\n

See full details below\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cMy attention has been drawn to a publication by \u201cWhistler\u201d Blog reportedly published by Governor Alex Otti\u2019s ally and rumored designated successor, Chief James Chijioke Ume (Koos) of Abam in Arochukwu LGA of Abia State wherein they sought to continue the media attacks and trial against former Abia State Governor, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu, with same unsubstantiated claims first dished out in faraway United States of America by Governor Otti.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI was a member of the Abia State Executive Council (Exco) and functioned as Honorable Commissioner for Information when the idea of constructing Abia Airport was first discussed during Exco meeting of 24th September 2020. Based on the presentation made to Exco, we approved the project and also approved the borrowing of N10bn from UBA Plc as initial investment by the state with repayment charged to our FAAC account with the bank. You may wish to recall that during the period the country was still struggling to emerge from COVID-19 pandemic with very low FAAC and IGR inflows across the states.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that approval by Exco the processes related to the project kicked off. The current Secretary to State Government who is an appointee of Governor Otti, Prof Kenneth Kalu, can review and confirm my claim from Exco records in his custody.<\/p>\n

\u201cShortly after we announced Exco\u2019s approval of the airport project, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu received in audience executives of Abia State Traditional Rulers Council then led by HRM Eze Joseph Nwabekee.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the 13th of November 2020, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu informed members of the state executive council about the details of his meeting with representatives of the traditional rulers in Abia State who requested that we suspend the airport project and commit the funds earmarked for it to doing more roads in the state as we are surrounded by airports already but need to urgently improve internal roads that would give a further boost to the socio-economic activities of the state. Exco thereafter voted to approve the suspension and request to use the earmarked funds for road projects in the state (Attachment 1).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the 17th of November 2020, Governor Ikpeazu took to his official X (formerly Twitter) handle to inform netizens that the airport project had been suspended (Attachments 2 & 3).<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously Governor Ikpeazu must have informed the commissioner for Works of his intention to suspend the Airport project in anticipation of Exco approval, hence the State Ministry of Works selected road projects in our 2020 budget for funding with the N10 billion and allocated resources to the contractors.<\/p>\n

\u201cFerotex Construction Company which is one of the reputable indigenous construction companies with anti-graft agencies\u2019 clearance was selected by the Ikpeazu administration as lead company in the \u201ccontractor financier\u201d arrangements with UBA (Attachment 4).<\/p>\n

\u201cThis contractor finance arrangement is not alien within the public sector and you may wish to see a similar arrangement entered into by the Alex Otti government with Craneburg Construction Company for N50bn (Attachment 5) facility earmarked for \u201cvarious roads\u201d. Such lead companies are more or less consultants that would receive the bulk amount and pay other road contractors as banks would not likely agree to enter into multiple agreements with all the contractors.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the contractors and projects known to me that were paid from the N10bn include:<\/p>\n

i. China Zonghghao for Osisioma flyover Aba & ABSUTH Road Aba \u2013 N800,000,000
\nii. Trackcare Construction Company: for Aba-owerri road Aba (Brass to Osisioma junction segment, Ururuka road Aba, Afor Ibeji\/ Ubakala Umuahia, Stella Maris Catholic Church, etc -N1,035,000,000
\niii. Ferrotex: Aba-owerri road (Railway junction-Brass junction segment) Aba, Opobo Junction-Ukpakiri Ogbor Hill Aba,,Uratta Ugwuati, Itungwa -N1,500,000,000
\niv. \u2060Sannan Jandon: Okigwe road Aba, Milverton road Aba, Cemetery-Eziukwu road Aba-N450,000,000
\nv. \u2060Ecklean: Osusu road Aba-N 200 000,000
\nvi. \u2060Cosmos Construction: Immaculate Avenue Umungasi Aba-N150,000,000
\nvii. Setraco\/Hartland, Port Harcourt Road Aba, N1,000,000,000
\nviii. \u2060Rockwaters, Ohanku Road Aba, Okpu Umuobo Aba -N650,000,000
\nix. MOW: Ebenma Street Aba, Ovom street Aba- N1, 130,000,000
\nx. \u2060Zubbalco, MBUBO Umuakwu,-N200,000,000
\nxi. Tunnel End: Umuene \u2013 Obikabia, Umuojima,- umuokiri- Ekeakpara, umuakatawom-Eziama- ohanze -N780,000,000
\nxii. \u2060Paceo Carretera: Agalaba Ring road-N312,000,000
\nxiii. \u2060Delhope: Umuobiakwa-Owo road, Obingwa, Federal medical center internal road, Aba road Umuahia (GG-shoprite) -N557,000,000
\nxiv. MOW: umuobiakwa internal roads,Nbawsi internal roads, Desilting of Aba big gutter \u2013 N325,000,000
\nxv. \u2060\u2060BOK: Agbama Ring road Umuahia-N100,000,000
\nxvi. \u2060Crystalkleen: York\/Jubile\/Nicholas street Aba -N30,000,000
\nxvii. \u2060Pumeco Construction: Zero porthole along Umuahia roads -N353, 000,000
\nxviii. \u2060Yodel: Afrata road, Umuahia- N100,000,000
\nxix. \u2060E&P Contracting: Trinity college road Umuahia -N60,000,000
\nxx. Obitex development company Ltd: Ohuhu road from Isiokata, diversion from the gully erosion at isiokata to umuawa ohuhu to Nkwoegwu.-N125,000,000
\nxxi. \u2060Smutedge: Rehabilitation of failed portions Umuikaa-umuenne, -N200,000,000
\nxxii. Ministry of Public Utilities: Streetlighs -N100,000,000<\/p>\n

\u201cKindly note that the listed tranche payments are not exhaustive as those were the only ones in my personal Exco note that I kept during meetings. It is also true that other tranche payments were made from other sources. The ministry of Works led by Elder Bob Ogu and Ministry of Finance led by Dr Aham Uko should be able to supply a more comprehensive list. Alternatively, the current administration can also track through the relevant Ferotex project acciunt.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA serious audit investigation will simply seek to establish if the allocated funds got to the companies and also if the contractors did the work. Otti\u2019s \u201c one of the top 3 audit firms in the world\u201d failed to follow the money as expected of any audit firm, even the least ones.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who claim that there was need for \u201cvirement\u201d may be speaking out of ignorance in this case. The road projects were already in our approved budget hence no need for further house approval. All state revenues are expected to be used to fund state budget and from the time we had approval to spend on the roads instead of Airport there is, in my opinion, no further need for legislative approval.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am also confident that if there was any legal requirement for further house of assembly approval the management of UBA Plc must have demanded for and obtained it from government before disbursement of cash for the road projects. Whoever is interested in seeing such approval can contact UBA Plc. It is important to note that there was no draw down on the funds until November 26th 2020, when Governor Ikpeazu signed attachment 6, because the bank placed a lien pending when all the documentation was completed. This can be verified from the relevant UBA accounts by the Auditors and Otti\u2019s administration. Indeed, the disbursements continued beyond January 2021.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the further education of those who verbalize terms they do not understand, virement is the process of transferring items from one financial account to another. In this case, the airport project and the road projects must both be in the 2020 budget before you can execute virement. I can personally not recall if the Airport project was in our 2020 budget as at the time it was approved by Exco or intended to be approved via supplementary budget, hence, I cannot speak to any necessity for virement through the House of Assembly. We never spent N10bn on any Airport project, so further debate in this direction is academic.ABIA MONEY WAS SPENT ON ABIA ROADS!<\/p>\n

\u201cAs an active member of exco whose job was to coordinate information dissemination, I had access to some related documents to the allocation of funds for the road projects. See attachment 6.
\n\u201cAny \u201creputable\u201d audit firm interested in doing a good job could easily have tracked the payment of the N10bn to Ferotex and further to the other construction companies listed above that received payments and any other(s).<\/p>\n

\u201d It is on record that Governor Alex Otti ill-advisedly sacked senior civil servants in Abia State including Permanent Secretaries and Directors that worked with Governor Ikpeazu. Who then is the \u201cministry of works\u201d staff that confirmed to the auditors that he\/she does not know about the transactions? Obviously, it must be an Otti appointee who is doing the bidding of a master that is fixated on dragging his predecessor through the mud.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor instance, I believe either Engr Ogbuokiri or Engr Okpara SC was the permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works when the projects under reference were executed. Otti sacked Okpara simply because he worked with former Governor Ikpeazu whereas he is in a position to give a response to the \u201ctop 3 audit firm\u201d of Otti. That was how Otti decapitated continuity in governance in Abia State.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a crying shame that a state Governor who subscribed to an oath of office is leaking forensic audit document paid for by Abia tax payers to a blogger rather than use official government platforms to publish same material. If that is not a misdemeanor and abuse of office, I wonder what else it is.<\/p>\n

\u201d It also speaks volume that Governor Otti is so ashamed of his own \u201cforensic audit by \u201cone of the top 3 audit firms in the world\u201d that he couldn\u2019t publish the full documents through Abia state\u2019s official platforms such as Abia State Government website but rather chose to leak bits and pieces through a blogger and then threaten his predecessor, who is yet to see the report, with EFCC.<\/p>\n

\u201d I personally do not believe Governor ikpeazu should respond to a document published by an Otti\u2019s blogger. He should wait till a copy of the forensic aisit report is given to him or officially published by the state government.<\/p>\n

\u201d Governor Alex Otti must know that at EFCC, people are given opportunities to respond to allegations against them as against a supposed forensic audit that never permitted the auditee to respond. Relevant financial transactions are monitored and actual projects inspected by EFCC.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sure former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu will willingly respond to any invitation by the EFCC or any other legitimate anti-graft agency in the country after 8 years of meritorious service to his state. He is not afraid of answering any invitation to give account but surely EFCC will not be swayed by media trials orchestrated by a bitter political rival. They follow facts not fiction.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt some point after leaving office, Governor Alex Otti will also have to give account of his stewardship and if he is succeeded by someone like him I can only pray that God will have mercy on him.<\/p>\n

\u201cClearly, the Otti administration is in a hurry to bury the recent quarterly financial report analysis that showed multi-billion naira financial indiscretions including allocating billions of tax payers money to laughable sub-heads like \u201cResearch & Development\u201d which was used to expend a humongous N3bn when we are not on our way to the moon and N890m for food and enjoyment at a time Abia workers are yet rir receive promised wage awards.<\/p>\n

\u201cPiecemeal leaking of doctored official government documents to a blogger will also not stop us from demanding that Governor Alex Otti stop operating like the Emperor of Abia State and allow Hon Aaron Uzodike to be inaugurated as the member representing Aba North State Constituency who has valid Certificate of Return issued by INEC. That Governor Otti has embarked on a personal mission of determining what constitutes justice by a law court is exactly what makes him an EMPEROR, not whatever I say or write.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, it is important to note that no well intentioned democratic leader with defined development agenda focuses on hounding his rivals through media trial and attempting to frame prominent opposition figures for incarceration at all cost simply because they disagree with him.<\/p>\n

\u201d Those clapping for Governor Alex Otti today must read the words of a certain Dr Alex Otti which he penned in an article titled \u201c Who Are You To Ask Me Questions?\u201d It was published by Thisday Newspaper of 19th July 2021:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we find here is that in many cases, leadership turns itself into sit tight despots, threatening, insulting and bullying anyone who dares to ask questions and wants to hold it to any form of accountability. In the course of doing so, it believes that it would silence the people and plunder the patrimony without responsibility and with no consequence. It is, however, instructive that once the people keep quiet, they wittingly or unwittingly consent to the plundering of its resources and therefore are vicariously culpable, like Albert Einstein aptly stated above. The reason why leadership seems not to care about the people is because it can perpetuate itself in power by hook or crook irrespective of what the people do.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

XOur dear Governor Alex Otti, kindly listen to the famous government critic and opposition leader called Dr Alex Otti. Hold yoirself to higher standard of leadership than you are offering Abians today.<\/p>\n

\u201d All available facts show that Governor Otti created the Airport controversy and he is the one also fuelling it to divert attention from his numerous failures including poor management of Abia resources under his care, as can be verified from the recently published quarterly financial report authored by his government.<\/p>\n

\u201cFurthermore, Ferotex Construction Company is one of the contractors currently engaged by Governor Otti in at least 4 active projects sites in the state. His government reportedly also used Ferotex company for a recent contractor financier arrangement in billions of naira. That he has access to Ferotex and yet continued with this false narrative shows that he is simply being mischievous as against being gubernatorial.\u201d<\/p>\n

Abia Forensic Audit: Former Commissioner Kalu makes more clarifications, rubbishes report<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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