Ikpeazu objects to the N10 billion airport proposal being investigated by Abia.

Ikpeazu objects to the N10 billion airport proposal being investigated by Abia.

According to Alex Otti, the governor of Abia State, he launched a forensic audit of the government’s account in order to retrieve cash that were pilfered, not to conduct witch hunts.

Otti had requested an investigation of the previous administration’s expenditures, particularly the N10 billion airport project that Okezie Ikpeazu, the governor in office at the time, was said to have received funding for.

In response to the airport project report, the former governor also corrected the record, saying that although Theodore Orji led administration had started the project and budgeted N10 billion, he abandoned it following opposition from the state’s traditional institutions.

The former governor went on to say that the funds were transferred to other state initiatives.

During an interactive session on Sunday in Nvosi, the Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of the state, with the constituents of the Isiala Ngwa South state constituency, Governor Otti stated that he had established an audit upon taking office with the main goal of recovering government funds and not locking anyone up.

The governor reportedly told the News Agency of Nigeria that the audit’s findings showed that large sums of money had been blatantly taken and robbed for projects that never happened, including the Abia Airport project.

“You will notice these things if you keep up with what’s going on in the media.

Lying has the drawback because if you tell one lie, you’ll need to say two more to cover the first, and three more to cover the second.

“We need to locate our money, which is why we are searching for it. They will reimburse us for our money if we are unable to locate the airport,” he said.

However, Otti was chastised by Chief John Okiyi-Kalu, the Commissioner for Information under Ikpeazu’s government, for supposedly providing false information to the state’s citizens.

In a statement released on Monday, Okiyi-Kalu said that the purported N10 billion that was initially allocated for the airport project had been diverted to other initiatives.

“You may wish to remember that at that time, the nation was still attempting to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, with extremely low FAAC and IGR inflows throughout the states,” he stated.

“We announced that Exco had approved the airport project, and shortly afterward, Governor Ikpeazu was greeted by executive members of the Abia State Traditional Rulers Council, who were then under the leadership of Eze Joseph Nwabekee.

We already have airports all around us, but we urgently need to improve internal roads that will further boost the state’s socioeconomic activities. On November 13, 2020, Governor Okezie Ikpeazu briefed the state executive council on the details of his meeting with representatives of the traditional rulers in Abia State. They requested that we halt the airport project and use the funds designated for it to build more roads in the state.

He stated, “The exco then decided to approve the suspension and request to use the designated funds for state road projects.”

He said that Ikpeazu notified the people of Abia via his official X (formerly Twitter) account on November 17, 2020, that the airport project had been put on hold.

According to Okiyi-Kalu, Ikpeazu must have told Elder Bob Ogu, the former Commissioner for Works, of his plan to halt the airport project while awaiting exco approval. As a result, the state Ministry of Works chose road projects in the Abia 2020 budget to fund with the N10 billion and provided resources to the contractors.

According to Okiyi-Kalu, Kenneth Kalu, the State Government’s current secretary, could examine and verify his assertion using the documents under his care.

“No dime was diverted accounting for the N10bn,” declared the former commissioner. Otti is deflecting criticism away from his quarterly report, which revealed that he had spent N3 billion on research and projects that never happened.

“Why is he awarding major contracts today to the same Ferrotex contractor he accused of receiving N10bn from us?” What prevented him or his auditors from requesting an explanation from Ferrotex? We have chosen to provide him with proof of completed work in response. The hour of truth is here upon us.

Later on, Okiyi-Kalu worked as a commissioner for trade and investment. She said it was shocking that Otti and his media handlers rushed to a blogger to help them publish an indicting report against his former principal, rather than the much-discussed audit, after a demand was made for its publication.

According to Okiyi-Kalu, Ferotex Construction Company was given the Umuimo Road, Shalom Road, and Umuode Road in Aba since Otti became the governor.

“The largest road project Otti has in Abia State is the 67.6-kilometer Umuahia-Uzuakoli-Abiriba-Ohafia Road, of which Ferotex Construction Company is currently equally managing the 22.5-kilometer Isuikwuato-Abariba section,” he continued.

In addition to listing around eighteen projects that were completed in lieu of the airport, Okiyi-Kalu provided a thorough description of the roadways and contractors that were awarded the N10 billion originally designated for the building of an airport.

China Zonghghao for Osisioma flyover Aba & ABSUTH Road Aba won N800,000,000, according to his list. For the Aba-Owerri road Aba (Brass to Osisioma junction portion), Ururuka road Aba, Afor Ibeji/Ubakala Umuahia, Stella Marris Catholic Church, etc., Trackcare Construction Company was awarded N1,035,000,000.

Ferrotex Construction Company was awarded N1,500,000,00 for the rehabilitation of the failed Ururuka project on the Aba-Owerri road (Railway junction-Brass junction section), Obohia Road, Opobo Junction-Ukpakiri Ogbor-Hill Aba, Uratta Ugwuati, and Itungwa.

For Okigwe Road Aba, Milverton Road Aba, and Cemetery-Eziukwu Road Aba, Hannah Jardon Construction Company was awarded N450,000,000. Ecklean: Cosmos Construction Company received N150,000,000 for Immaculate Avenue Umungasi Aba; Setraco/Hartland received N1,000,000,000 for the Port Harcourt road. Osusu Road Aba received N200,000,000.

More information revealed that “MOW for Ebenma Street Aba and Ovom Street, Aba got N1,130,000,000, and Rockwaters for Ohanku Road Aba, Okpu Umuobo Aba, got N650,000,000.” Zubbalco received N200,000,000. for MBUBO Umuakwu.

“Paceo Carretera company received N312,000,000 for the construction of the Agalaba Ring road in Obingwa, while Tunnel End Construction Company received N780,000,000 for the construction of Umuene-Obikabia, Umuojima-Umuokiri-Ekeakpara, and Umuakatawom-Eziama-Ohanze.”

“Delhope Construction Company received N557,000,000 for the construction of the Federal Medical Center internal road, Aba Road Umuahia (GG-Shoprite), and Umuobiakwa-Owo road Obingwa. On the other hand, MOW construction received N325,000,000 for the construction of the Aba big gutter’s desilting and the internal roads of Umuobiakwa, Umuobiakwa (Gov) and Mbawsi. Lastly, BOK construction was awarded N100,000,000 for the construction of the Agbama Ring road Umuahia, among other projects.

Since those were the only tranche payments he retained in his exco note during meetings, he pointed out that the list was not all-inclusive.

While acknowledging that further tranche payments had come from other sources, he emphasized that a more thorough inventory of the items he had issued need to be provided by the Ministries of Works and Finance.

In response to Otti’s assertions that he hired the top three audit companies to complete the forensic audit, he refuted the allegation and stated the three firms had not followed the money as would be anticipated of an audit company.

He declared, “All state revenues are expected to be used to fund the state budget and there is no further need for legislative approval from the time we had the approval to spend on the roads instead of the airport.”