Former Commissioner for Trade and Investment in Abia State, John Okiyi Kalu, has said Governor Alex Otti prefers propaganda to governance.
Naija News reports that Okiyi Kalu, who was commissioner under former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, stated this while responding to Governor Otti’s interview last week.
Speaking with Arise News on Monday, Kalu disagreed with the submission that Ikpeazu’s administration left nothing in the state’s coffers.
He stated that Ikpeazu left cash of ₦4 billion and near-cash assets for the incoming administration before he left office.
“You must have heard Governor Alex Otti, KPMG reports commissioned by his administration is a process review document which says that over N4 billion in cash was left for him. There were near cash instructions also left for him.
“For instance, Okezie Ikpeazu’s administration also won N24 billion stamp duties, we also left other asset because he likes talking about liability and he wasn’t quite pressed. If you have come to public arena to talk about liability, he should also be talking about assets.
“Otti inherited a $60 million round fund, $225 million African Development Fund, N24 billion stamp duties due to Abia State and saw cash in Union Bank of about N4 billion and you said nothing is left in the coffers,” he said.
Kalu accused Governor Otti of having a poor understanding of state finances and project planning.
“Thank you for that interview, because it exposed a lot of things. For the first time in my life, I saw a Governor of a state who could not speak to how much a state makes in IGR monthly.
“I saw a Governor for the first time who flagged off an airport project and doesn’t know what the intervention of the state would cost the people of the state and he doesn’t know what the federal government is investing in that project, even though there is budgeting approval for that project. That speaks of who Dr. Alex Otti is, he is very high on propaganda and very low on substance,” he stated.
Speaking on the uncompleted government house, he said, “He told you that’s the first floor of the new Government House that was commissioned, that he visited that place and it was fantastic. Let me for a moment concede that it was an uncompleted building.”
He added that Ikpeazu built hospitals, 213 roads and put street lights across the state.
“As at the time he came to power, there was no good road. All the good roads were done by Ikpeazu, built schools, streetlights and installed cameras,” he added.