Governor Alex Otti of Abia State
Abia Govt clarifies on reports of N927m spent by Otti on food, welfare
Abia Government has stated that Governor Alex Otti spent N223 million on feeding and welfare from July to September 2023, and not the N927 million widely reported in the media.
Reports had gone on both the mainstream and social media platforms over claims that the Labour Party (LP) elected governor in the country had spent a whopping N927million within three months of his administration on refreshment and meals, settlement of honorarium, allowances, and welfare packages.
However, making the clarification, Monday, the state’s Commissioner for Budget and Planning, Mr Kingsley Anosike, said the expenditure was not by the governor’s office as alleged, ‘but by the entire ministries, departments and agencies in the state,’ adding further that the actual total amount spent so far by the entire government for refreshments and meals for the period was N223,389,889.84.
In a press statement issued, Monday, Mr. Anosike described the media claims of N927million as ‘a reflection of the mindset of the opposition to create mischief.’
“Following the publication of the Q3 budget report of the Abia State Government, and in line with the government’s commitment to transparency, good governance, and fiscal discipline, it has become necessary to shed more light on the aforementioned report.
“This is even more so when there are certain distorted reports on social media alleging that the Abia State Government had spent close to N1billion on feeding and welfare for the Governor’s Office, within the period under review.
“The accurate situation is that nothing in that region has been spent in the Governor’s Office.
“This figure is for the entire state and not for the Office of the Governor, as being erroneously portrayed. The stated figure covers expenses for special events, such as retreats, conferences, and
“For welfare, the Abia State Government has so far spent the sum of N397,520,734.84. The Welfare expenditure is in line with the State Fiscal, Transparency, Accountability, and Sustainability Programme; an initiative of the Federal Government.
“Also note that the welfare expenditure covers all the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies and not just the Governor’s Office, as wrongly alleged. Expenses under welfare deal with issues of health, rehabilitation, and public emergencies,” Anosike said.
Continuing, the commissioner said: “The state government, under the leadership will continue to uphold transparency in governance, as has been demonstrated in the publication of the budget performance report for two consecutive quarters.”.
In the report, titled; “Abia State Third Quarter (July – September) 2023 Budget Performance” and posted on the state government’s website, the Otti-led government spent N223,389,889.84 on refreshment/meals, while N305,400,000.00 was spent on honorarium and sitting allowance for government officials within July and September, 2023.
The government also said it spent N362,804,050.00 to purchase trucks and another N400,890,000.00 was used for the purchase of buses.
