IKPEAZU, I WILL NOT JOIN YOU IN THE MUD.

BEING TEXT OF A REJOINDER ON THE MANAGEMENT OF
FINANCES IN ABIA STATE BY DR. ALEX OTTI, OFR
My attention has been drawn to two press statements from
the Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu in a bid to respond
to my press conference of August 16, 2017 whereby I raised
issues about the management of funds accruing to the state
since 2015 and also objected to the recent approval of a loan
of $200m for the State Government by the National Assembly.


The two statements from the Governor contained very uncouth
and foul language and was full of abuses and insults on my
person for daring to ask questions about the finances of my
state.


I will not want to join issues with him because I do not believe
that two wrongs make a right. Like he stated in the releases,


let me agree that I am ignorant, dumb, a misinformer and do
not understand financial numbers and international finance. I
will also agree that I am ignorant and clueless as he claimed
in his releases, if that will make him happy and enable him
answer the posers I raised and pay workers in Abia State.


While I have chosen not to reply to the abuses because I
would not want to join the Governor in the mud, I must help
him in correcting a statement made in one of the releases
aimed at tarnishing my image which, however, displayed lack
of understanding of how quoted companies, particularly banks,


work. The reason I do this is that I do not want this kind of
mistake repeated elsewhere which is capable of bringing my
state and the governor into avoidable ridicule. Part of the
statement read “it is also hoped that Mr. Otti will publicly
encourage the auditors of Diamond Bank Plc to publish
detailed audit reports of the bank covering the period that he
served as MD and the year after. The public needs to know the
sources of the operational loses that were masked through
asset revaluation and other smart accounting tricks”.


Mr.
Governor, Banks don’t work like governments where the
governor decides what to publish and what not to. Banks are
regulated by the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), National
Deposit Insurance Corporation, NDIC, Securities and Exchange
Commission, SEC and boards of Directors.


Publication of audit
reports and financial statements is mandatory at least
annually. Banks have external auditors and Board audit
committees and the books must also be examined by CBN
and NDIC examiners. So it is not for me to encourage
publication, it is compulsory and must be done periodically. I
am aware that some of the people that passed through my
training in different banks are part of your team. I will advise
you to consult them in future when you are not sure or have
issues like this requiring elucidation to avoid our state being
embarrassed the way this has scandalized a lot of people who
read your statement.


Having said that, I now turn to the issues that I believe have
not been responded to and my further questions. The beauty
of democracy is that people are free to ask questions and I
will like you to understand that and get used to answering
questions from your constituents.


On the National Assembly approved $200m loan, documents
sighted by me show that the National Assembly might have
been misled into approving a loan that is different from the
one recommended by the president. In my last press
conference, I had indicated that on May 25, 2017 a
Presidential request for $100 million regarding Abia State
Rural Access and Mobility Project (RAMP) was sent to the
National Assembly, however, on July 18,


2017 the Minister of
Finance sent a request for $200 million to the National
Assembly in respect of Abia State Integrated Infrastructure
Development Project (ASIIDP) which curiously, is exactly the
same request that Abia State Government submitted dated
October 2015. It would be helpful if you could explain the
following:


1. How did Abia State Rural Access and Mobility Project
(RAMP) become Abia State Integrated Infrastructure
Development Project (ASIIDP)?


2. How did $100 million transform to $200 million?


3. When was this request presented to the Abia State house of
assembly which should ordinarily have approved it before it
made its way to the National Assembly or was there a waiver?


On the issue of funds that have accrued to the state and how
they were utilized, information available from the office of the
Accountant General of the Federation indicate that you have
received the following funds from May 2015 till date
Period FAAC LGAs


May 2015 to December 2015 N25.59b N15.42b
January 2016 to December 2016 N30.56b N19.61b
January 2017 to July 2017 N18.28b N11.91b
TOTAL N74.42b N46.94b
GRAND TOTAL N120 BILLION
In addition to the above funds, you had borrowed N10b from
an old generation bank and had also received the following
funds:


Bail out funds N14.105b
1st tranche of Paris Club Refund N10.6b
2nd tranche of Paris Club Refund N5.7b
By your own admission, you collect N1billion monthly on
internally generated revenue.
You will agree with me that these are huge sums of money. I
do know that it also costs money to run government and part
of government expenditure goes to payment of salaries.


I do
not think it is too much to ask, if a citizen demands to know
how these funds were utilized.
On salaries, I will advise that you come clean and let us know
why salaries are not being paid inspite of all the funds received
as itemized above.


It is no use making claims that are not true
like the ones made in your responses to me to the effect that
you have paid all outstanding salary arrears. Those who are
owed are there in the state and I consider it a great disservice
to them and the state when their governor makes untruthful
claims about salary payments. Besides, the world is now a
global village and there are credible sources including
‘Budgit’ that publish states that are in arrears of salary
payments. You may wish to ask for the latest edition of such
publications and see if our state is listed amongst those that
are not owing.


Finally, on your claims of commissioning 26 roads and
constructing 65 others, I will advise that you give Abia people
real roads. All those roads built and commissioned by
propaganda on the state radio and sponsored social media
platforms can only remain what they are: a mirage, when many
parts of Aba and Umuahia remain in ruins and impassable.


You can travel very far with propaganda, but it can never take
you to a real destination, except if your destination is
imaginary.