Alex Otti has unveiled a forensic report uncovering financial misconduct during the tenure of his immediate predecessor, former Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu.
After weeks of altercations with his predecessor, Governor Alex Otti has finally made good on his promise to make public the forensic report showing financial malfeasance by the immediate past administration.
The 359-page report prepared by KPMG, which was engaged for the job on July 13, 2023, was released on Tuesday, by the State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Mr. Okey Kanu, shortly after briefing journalists on the outcome of this week’s meeting of the State Executive Council.
The report read partly, “N12,800,851,500.00 was paid to four contractors, for contracts that do not appear to exist, per available records and discussions with relevant officials.”
According to the report, the alleged phony contracts included N10,000,000,000 paid “to Ferotex on 25 September 2020 for the “construction of Abia State airport.
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“N2,000,000,000.00 (was paid) on June 6, 2022, and September 1, 2022, to Logistics De-Luke, for the “delivery of 22 different brand-new vehicles,” while N9,279,800,000.00 was paid to seven contractors “with no records that the contracts were executed per schedules of contracts provided and discussions with relevant officials.”
On the utilisation of funds from Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC), the report stated that Abia earned N468,356,645,293.64, excluding reversals of N28,963,869,442.72, during the eight years of Ikpeazu administration.
Out of the total net inflows from FAAC accounts, the former government allegedly spent N465,991,676,382.39, with a consolidated closing balance of N2,169,406,016.88, as at 28 May 2023.
The auditors reported that an expenditure of N462,219,772,748.67 comprising loan repayments, inter-account and inter-bank transfers, as well as payments to FIRS, “appear to be legitimate.”
But it pointed out that N3,294,788,036.80 (68 payments) paid to MDAs, Government House (and some Officials) and contractors, “were without supporting documents and contrary to the expected outflows from the FAAC accounts (inter-account/inter-bank transfers, loan repayments, and contractor finance facilities, CFFs, or bank charges).
The Special Adviser to Governor otti on Media and Publicity, Mr. Ferdinand Ekeoma, said the anti-graft agency, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was already asking questions and seeking explanations from government officials and firms that colluded in the plundering of Abia resources.
Abis State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Kanu, further added that the release of the forensic report for public view would give the people of Abia, Nigerians and indeed the global community an idea of how Abia State was mercilessly raped by those entrusted with authority to pilot its affairs between May 29, 2015 and May 28, 2023. #Otti
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