Following the eight-year tenure of former governor Okezie Ikpeazu, the debt profile of Abia State increased from N34.5 billion inherited to N192.2 billion, as noted by Governor Dr. Alex Otti. He contended that the main cause for concern is that there don’t seem to be any obvious results from this rising debt, even though vital sectors like healthcare, pensions, infrastructure, educational facilities, and salary payments all suffered declines.
He said in an interview with Channels TV, ”My worry is not really about debt as it is about what the debt is used for. If you inherited a debt profile of N34.5Bn and 8 years later you ran that debt to about N192.2Bn. And I really can’t see anything that you have done with the money, salaries were not being paid, pensioners were being owned. Infrastructure were decaying and the place was going into ruins, schools were run down completely. So the issue is where did the money go.”
