EXCLUSIVE: How Forensic Audit Report Indicted Ex-Governor Ikpeazu, Ferotex Construction Company In N10bn ‘Non-Existent’ Abia Airport Project (PART I)

…Ex-Governor Secured Lawmakers Approval Within 24 Hours To Borrow N10bn From UBA For Airport Project, 3 Weeks After Funds Were Disbursed To Ferotex

…Ferotex Fails To Respond To THE WHISTLER’s FOI Request On Involvement In Abia Airport Contract Saga

…We Are Studying Forensic Audit Report From Abia Govt – EFCC

Facts have emerged as to how the immediate past Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu claimed to have paid the sum of N10bn to Ferotex Construction Company for the execution of the controversial ‘non-existent’ Abia Airport Project.

Details of the alleged payment are contained in the forensic audit report on the eight-year administration of the former governor of Abia State, exclusively obtained by THE WHISTLER.

The Abia Airport project has become an issue of controversy following revelation by the administration of Governor Alex Otti that funds were collected for several projects which were never executed.

The collection of funds for various projects without evidence of execution is a reflection of the huge corruption that has characterized the tenure of public officeholders in Nigeria.

How Ferotex Raised N10bn Loan From UBA For Abia Airport Project Execution

An investigation by THE WHISTLER has uncovered how the sum of N10bn was secured by Ferotex Construction Company for the construction of Abia Airport project through a term loan.

THE WHISTLER gathered that through a letter dated September 25, 2020, Ferotex had requested a term loan of N10bn (which is 80 per cent contract amount) to continue the execution of the contract awarded to them during that period by the state government for the construction of Abia State Airport.

Two weeks later, specifically by October, 8 2020, records available to THE WHISTLER revealed that the Abia State Government, under Ikpeazu, issued an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order to United Bank of Africa confirming the purpose of Ferotex’s request for the construction of Abia State Airport.
An Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) is an order issued by a state government requesting a bank to deduct funds from its accounts and credit a nominated party, usually a contractor or creditor.

Findings revealed that the ISPO instructed United Bank for Africa to debit its ABSG Federation Account Allocation Committee/Value Added Tax Accounts with a repayment amount of ₦406,620,817.24 for a period of 30 months, and credit the contractor’s account domiciled with UBA the ₦10bn term loan.

According to investigations, UBA was said to have disbursed the ₦10bn term loan to the contractor on September 25, 2020, which was before the October 8, 2020 date that Abia State Government sent the ISPO to UBA.

A Forensic Audit Report commissioned by the administration of Governor Alex Otti which was conducted by KPMG Advisory Services revealed that the schedule of the contract awarded by the state government under Ikpeazu’s watch does not include any contract for the Abia Airport project as the project was confirmed to be non existent by the Ministry of Works.

“The schedule of contract awarded by ABSG during the period under review, does not include any records of the contracts, and upon enquiry the Government Officials in the Ministry of Works stated that the Contract does not exist,” the audit report reads in part.

How Ex-Governor Requested Lawmakers To Approve N10bn Loan From UBA For Airport Project.

In a bid to get the Abia State House of Assembly to appropriate funding for the Abia Airport project, investigations by THE WHISTLER showed that the immediate past Governor, Okezie Ikpeazu wrote a letter to the Speaker to achieve his objective.

Specifically, it was gathered from documents obtained by THE WHISTLER that the ex-governor, through a letter dated October 13, 2020, addressed to the then Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Chinedum Orji, had requested for approval for his administration to use the FAAC/VAT Accounts to guarantee a loan of N10bn.

In the letter to the Speaker which was also exclusively obtained by THE WHISTLER, Ikpeazu explained that the funding would enable the state to “start and complete on time, an international airport for the state.”

The letter to the House of Assembly Speaker, was personally signed by Ikpeazu, dated October 13, 2020 and titled “Request for approval for Abia State Government to use the FAAC/VAT accounts of the state to guarantee a loan of N10,000,000,000.00 (TEN BILLION NAIRA).”

It reads, “In a bid to start and complete on time, an International Airport for the State, the State Government is requesting the House Authorization to use the State FAAC & VAT Accounts to guarantee a loan of N10,000,000,000.00 from UBA Plc to the contractor handling the Project.”

Abia House Of Assembly Approves Ikpeazu’s N10bn Loan Request For Airport Project

Abia State House Of Assembly quickly approved and appropriated N10bn to Ikpeazu within 24 Hours of the receipt of the request vide its letter dated October 14, 2020.

Further investigations by THE WHISTLER revealed that the request of the former governor to the lawmakers was approved and communicated through a resolution dated October 14,2020.

The resolution which was jointly signed by the then Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly, Chinedum Orji, and the Clerk of the House, JohnPedro Irokansi, authorized the former governor to proceed with the N10bn loan request for the airport project.

The implication of this approval is that the N10bn appropriated by the State Assembly cannot be used to finance any project other than the airport project without a virement which must be duly approved by the lawmakers.

Budget Virement means the process of transferring budgeted funds from one line item to another, with the approval of the lawmakers, to enable budget managers to amend budgets in the light of experience or to reflect anticipated changes.

There are no records from the administration of Ikpeazu that the N10bn funds were reallocated to another project as no virement request was received by the lawmakers for that purpose.
The lawmakers’ resolution approving the N10bn request from the ex-governor reads, “Pursuant to His Excellency’s letter of October 13, 2020 on the above subject matter, the Abia state House of Assembly sitting in an Executive session on Tuesday 13th October 2020 considered the said letter and agreed that there is need for the state to use the FAAC/VAT accounts to guarantee a loan of N10,000,000,000.00 only from the UBA PLC to the contractor handling the International Airport project.

“Consequently, the House unanimously resolved as follows: That the Abia State Government is hereby authorized to use the FAAC/VAT accounts to guarantee a loan of N10,000,000,000.00 from UBA PLC.”

Ferotex Fails To Respond To THE WHISTLER’s FOI Request On Involvement In Controversial Abia Airport Contract

THE WHISTLER confronted the Managing Director of Ferotex Construction Company, Mr Festus Onu through a Freedom of Information request dated April 30, 2024, containing details of our findings.

In the FOI request sent to him, he was asked to state how much has so far been released by the Abia State Government for the implementation of the project to his company, the level of implementation/execution of the project, and when the project will be delivered and handed over to Abia State Government.

The letter was delivered on Wednesday, May 2 to the Managing Director in the headquarters of the company located in Port Harcourt.

We rejected Airport Project From Ex-Governor Ikpeazu – Ferotex MD

Upon receipt of the letter, the Managing Director, who was in his office with the Company’s Legal Adviser told THE WHISTLER that the company rejected the contract from Abia State Government.

He said the reason for the rejection of the contract was because Ferotex Construction Company specializes in road construction projects and does not have the needed expertise to handle airport projects.

He said, “Our company is majorly into road construction. We don’t handle airport projects.

“So, when the government of Ikpeazu brought the airport project to our company, we rejected it and told the Governor that we don’t handle such project.

“Our company did some road constructions and supervised some other projects in Abia during the last administration.

“There’s no contract agreement between the company and the Abia State concerning any airport.

“We don’t have any information regarding the Abia airport project by the Ikpeazu administration.

“Our company is a reputable construction company. We deliver in all our projects to the standard stipulated in our contract agreement.”

Conspiracy Of Silence: No Evidence From Ferotex That Airport Project Contract Was Rejected

Not satisfied with the explanation of the MD that the company rejected the contract from the ex-governor, THE WHISTLER probed further by requesting that the company provide the following information to support its claims.

Letter of contract award sent to Ferotex Construction Company by the Abia State Government for the award of Abia Airport Project.

Acknowledgement copy of Ferotex letter to Abia State Government rejecting the contract.

Evidence that Ferotex Construction Company returned the term loan of N10bn that it took from the bank for the project given the fact that the money was withdrawn from Abia State Account all through the period.

Letter from Abia State Government confirming that it accepted Ferotex’s rejection of the Abia Airport Contract project

Any other supporting document(s) to substantiate the fact that the contract was rejected by Ferotex Construction Company and monies returned to the coffers of Abia State Government.

But the request by THE WHISTLER for the above information to support the company’s claim that it rejected the contract was ignored and not responded to as of the time of going to press.

The Managing Director did not also pick up repeated calls to his mobile phone number.

Ex-Governor Ikpeazu Should Be Investigated, Prosecuted By EFCC, ICPC For Misappropriating N10bn For Airport Project- Lawyers

Lawyers who spoke to THE WHISTLER during separate interviews are demanding a probe and prosecution of the former governor and officials of Ferotex by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

They said those Indicted in the contract saga can be prosecuted for various offences ranging from money laundering, obtaining money under pretense, fraud, stealing, conversion of public funds, breach of public trust and misappropriation among others.

Speaking to THE WHISTLER, Barrister Maxwell Okpara said the ex-governor Ikpeazu and Ferotex Construction Company can be prosecuted by the EFCC for obtaining money under pretense,

He said, “The EFCC can handle that. The EFCC can charge them for advanced fee fraud. They can charge them for obtaining money by false pretence.

“They can charge them for fraud. The EFCC can even claim that the money was used for funding terrorism and even money laundering.”

Also speaking, another Legal Practitioner based in Gombe State, John Wunfe Nimfas, said a charge under the Money Laundering Prohibition Act can be brought against the former Governor and Ferotex Construction if the company truly benefited from the proceed of the said loan.

He said, “Based on the fact as reflected above, a charge under Money Laundry (Prohibition) Act (As Amended) can be brought against the former Governor and the company, that is if the company truly benefited from the proceed of the said loan.

“But for the offense to be charged, one need to peruse through the provision of the Act to know under which section the duo can be properly changed. Thus, the former Governor and the company can be charged for money Laundering.

“With regard to which Agency can change them to court, the law by virtue of Economic and Financial Crimes Act vested EFCC with the powers to prosecute for any financial crime of which, money Laundering is one of them.

“Again, if the investigation reveals that the Governor used his position while in office to confer or gives undue advantage to the said company or perhaps, the Governor has a stake in the company, the ICPC can frame a charge pursuant to Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offices Act.

“However, the particular offence to be charged or the section of the law to frame the charge depends on the facts revealed by the investigation.”

In her reaction to the controversial contract, an Abuja-based Legal Practitioner Blessing Ogbu, told THE WHISTLER that the Appropriation Law of the State – just as the Appropriation Act at the Federal level – forbids monies that have been appropriated to be used for another purpose.

She added that a “breach of this law is what we call misappropriation.”

The legal practitioner said, “The EFCC and ICPC can prosecute, though EFCC is more suited for the prosecution since it may be argued that the ex-governor, no longer in service, cannot be prosecuted by ICPC. But, it is debatable since the criminal act was done when the ex-governor was in service.

She listed some of the offences which the ex-governor could be charged for to include stealing, conversion of public funds, breach of public trust

“To be charged for stealing, a person must have taken a property that belongs to another person, without that other person’s consent, with the intention of depriving that other person it’s use, possession and ownership permanently.

“Conversion of public funds happens when someone takes a property belonging to another person and begins to use the property as if it is his own. The difference between conversion and stealing is that while in the case of stealing, the thief takes the property without the consent of the owner, in the case of conversion, the property must have come into the person’s possession legally. But, instead of keeping it or using it for the purpose for which it was delivered to the person, this person, that is, the criminal, begins to use the property for his own benefit and enjoyment.

“Beach of public trust. The money is meant for the people of Abia State in order to construct an airport for them. They are the beneficiaries. The House of Assembly approved the fund. The governor holds it in trust. So, we have the House of Assembly as the settlor, the governor as the trustee and the people of Abia State as the beneficiaries.

“Now, the governor, instead of using the money for the purpose for which it was approved for him, now squandered it or turn it into his personal property. That is criminal breach of trust. He can be charged for a range of offences.”

For Barrister Nelson Kebordih, he said the former governor could be prosecuted by either the EFCC or ICPC depending on the way the alleged offences are approached by the law enforcement agencies.

He said, “The offence can be embezzlement, self-aggrandizement and even corruption. So, if its corruption that deals with economic and financial crimes, then the EFCC Act provides that the commission can prosecute on that.

“Now, if you talk of embezzlement and undue enrichment, diversion of contract using his position as a public servant, then the ICPC can also deal with him depending on how they want to approach the case.

“So, both the ICPC and EFCC can prosecute him. But based on the activities so far, the EFCC has been forward in prosecuting people that are political exposed who use their office for undue enrichment to the detriment of the state.

“So, EFCC will actually be in the front burner to start the prosecution against him. Being abuse of office, in his capacity as a public officer, the ICPC Act empowers the commission to also investigate and prosecute him.

“If found culpable, he could get between three and seven years in prison. That is the range of the punishment for the offences.”

We Are Studying Forensic Audit Report From Abia Govt – EFCC

When THE WHISTLER contacted the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, the Commission confirmed that it had received the entire audit report and was studying the contents of the report.

– The second part of this story will explain how the funds for the Abia airport project were disbursed by the Ikpeazu administration.

Culled from The Whistler

My people , you know my last post was a long read , so this particular I would be discussing about housing system in Aba , I will make a short read though I’m not short , that’s by the way .
Housing system in Aba is a sham , no comfort
Whosoever is the commissioner of housing and land development has a great work to do , axis of ariaria over the years has witnessed buildings without dispensation of basic comfort facilities, how on earth do we explain in this 21st century that someone will build a four storey building without a sizeable parlour demarcating the dining area, a good number of these houses has absent of dining area , no en-suite , no water heater ,no titling, etc , then what then makes it a 21st century house , I don’t want to talk about pop and screeding , because that one na goods of obstention


Who else has noticed same thing ?

OTTI AND HIS AMERICAN TALES BY MOONLIGHT

Refute of public claims by Governor Alex otti of abia state by spokesperson of Dr Ikpeazu


Our attention has been drawn to trending reports of a speech delivered by the Governor of Abia State, Dr Alex Otti at a forum somewhere in the United States of America, wherein he made certain allegations against his predecessor in office, Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, bothering on financial malfeasance.

Ever since leaving office as Governor of Abia State for two consecutive terms, Dr Okezie Ikpeazu has carried himself with the dignity his present situation in life demands and has, as a matter of personal policy, avoided any confrontation with the present Governor and his administration. At best, what Dr. Ikpeazu has authorized are clarifications whenever the current administration seeks to misinform the public about what transpired during the last administration. Clear instances of these abound and a few of them shall be highlighted later in this release.

We want to make it abundantly clear that what the Governor spewed at that forum is a tissue of lies, intricately woven by a spin doctor to deceive his audience and internationalize his known deep aversion for his predecessor.

For starters, we welcome the fact that the Governor has chosen to bring in a reputable firm of auditors who conducted a forensic audit. According to him, the firm "is one of the top three in the world", therefore it must be Deloitte, Ernst and Young or PriceWaterHouseCoopers. These are firms whose professionalism and global repute are not in doubt.

When forensic auditors are appointed and when they complete their task, the reasonable thing to do is to make the Forensic Audit Report public and allow the document speak for itself.

Forensic Audits are no voodoo schemes. They are acceptable means of investigating the finances of organizations and governments. They are carried out by top accounting professionals who are disinterested in politics and internal shenanigans in the organization they are auditing.They are not even conclusive evidence of any guilt on the part any person. They are at best, pointers to finacial malfeasance. When they are to be used in a criminal trial, lawyers will subject it to cross examination and the people involved will be afforded the opportunity to defend themselves.

Governor Alex Otti should, as a matter of public policy, name the Accounting Firm that did the audit and release the audit report. Abia State has a functional website. The audit report should be posted there immediately. Going to a foreign land to make comments about a document that is not in the public domain portrays the Governor as an administrative comedian.

At this point, it is important to address the issues raised by the Governor one after the other, naturally starting with the one that has generated the most reactions - the missing airport!

Even the Governor himself found his own claims ridiculous and he couldn't help laughing at himself because his claims are utterly senseless.
Former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu never built any airport and never claimed to have built one.

Facts are sacred. At some point in our administration, the idea of building an airport came up. It was an ambitious idea which the Governor wanted to pursue and one of the schemes that were considered then for funding the project was a Public Private Partnership. The State Government announced their plan to invest the sum of 10 Billion Naira into the project. Some private investors showed interest and the Government through the Ministry of Lands, commenced the acquisition of a large expanse of land at a location between Ikwuano and Isiala Ngwa North LGAs. There were interfaces between the Ministry and the representatives of the land owning communities, and some investors actually came to Abia to hold preliminary discussions with representatives of the State Government on the project.

While these talks went on, a section of the Abia public felt that the airport idea was ill timed. Indeed, the State Traditional Rulers Council led by their then Chairman, Hrm Eze Joseph Nwabeke visited the Governor and advised him to shelve airport plans and channel such funds, if they were available, into the completion of some critical road projects then.
This advice aligned with realities on the ground.
This was exactly what the Governor did. Indeed at a hangout with some selected journalists in Lagos, then Governor Ikpeazu, after speaking on the advantages of having an airport, told the journalists that he had decided to backtrack on the project based on the yearnings of our people. The video wherein the Governor made that statement is available and will be made public after this release.

Ladies and gentlemen, the only money the Ikpeazu administration committed into the airport project was 10 Million Naira, released to the Ministry of Lands during the process of acquiring the land and to manage the interface with the local communities. Not a Kobo more was spent!
The Honorable Commissioner for Lands then, is still alive.

I have spoken to the some of the officials who managed finances then and based on their answers to me, I now make these responses.

There was never any design for the airport. There was never a contractor selected and there was never any contract signed between the State Government and any person for this job.
Neither Governor Ikpeazu nor the State Executive Council at the time, approved the payment of any money to any contractor for any airport.

It is only God in heaven and Governor Otti who knows where he found records of 10 Billion Naira paid to any person to build an airport.

It's disturbing that people actually believe this trash. Which State Government in Nigeria will pay 10 Billion Naira for any project at all and not make it a press event? At least, there will be a flag off for such a project that the Government paid 10 Billion! In Abia, ceremonies are held for the flag off of road projects, let alone an airport.

We hereby throw a PUBLIC CHALLENGE to Dr Alex Otti, Governor of Abia State, to make public the audit report that shows that the sum of 10 Billion Naira, or any other amount at all, apart from the initial 10 million Naira mentioned above was paid to anyone for an airport!
What is the name of the Contractor who received the money?
Who authorized the payment?
Was it a one off payment or was it paid in different tranches?
Which bank handled the payment? Or was it paid in cash?

Is it possible at all for any State Government to make such payment in the absence of a design and even a contract document?
So Abia State, under our watch, that was struggling with poor finances, will pay 10 Billion Naira to someone, just like that?

The Commissioner for Finance and Accounant General of the State then who should be in the know of such transaction are still alive.

If Governor Alex Otti fails to provide answers to the questions above, we will leave the public to draw their conclusions about the character of the man who occupies the office of Governor of Abia State.

The above response on the so called airport project is hereby adopted as our response to the other fables Otti told his audience in America, with some amplifications there.
He claimed that "79.3 Billion was paid to 7 Contractors for contracts that were not executed at all up till today". Those were his exact words.

There is no need for any long grammar on this. The Governor should immediately release the names of the 7 Contractors and evidence of monies paid to them together with the contract papers.
We demand to know the dates the monies were paid and the banks that handled the payments. Otti is a banker. He still runs Signature Bank. These information shouldn't be difficult to get. No one should take 79.3 Billion of Abia money and walk away just like that!

If Governor Otti is serious about confirming the projects done and which contractors did what, he knows where and how to go about them.

At this point, it is important to note that the total budget for Abia State under the watch of Ikpeazu never got to 170 Billion Naira for any year throughout the 8 years he held sway as Governor. This included both recurrent and capital expenditures. Indeed, capital expenditures in any particular year hovered between 70 and 80 Billion Naira.

Having said that, the public should note the assertions made by the Governor on this point are false and malicious. Just like the airport issue, we challenge him to make public the audit report.

The next tale was that almost 16 Billion Naira was paid to 63 contractors with no supporting documents anywhere.
63 contractors? With no supporting documents anywhere?
Since there are no supporting documents anywhere, how did Otti know that they are contractors? Contractors are defined in contract documents which also define in clear details what job they will do.
Governor Otti should immediately provide the names of the 63 contractors for the public to know.
Under the Ikpeazu administration, no money was paid to any contractor without supporting documents. That is not even possible and no proper Accountant will effect such nebulous payment. No Accounting department will allow such malfeasance.
Since there were no supporting documents, on what basis were the payments made? Yet the people who allegedly authorized the payments are still walking free?

He went on..."Another 12 Billion Naira was paid to 2 contractors for contracts that do not exist". These contractors, don't they have names? It was here that he said that out of the 12 Billion, 10 Billion was paid to a contractor for the airport. Our response to the airport nonsense is already stated.

While we await the release of the audit report with the names of the contractors who were paid, we wish to remind the public that this is not the first time Governor Otti will lie in public about issues of the State finances.

Upon taking over in May last year, he told the world that his predecessor incurred a debt of about 190 Billion. He "wondered" where the money went to.
What he didn't tell the public is that the amount he mentioned represented the aggregate total of all the debts incurred by the State since creation, including loans that were carried over from the old Imo State. He also didn't tell the public that since the foreign loans component are dollar denominated, their current value is affected by forex differentials. For example, if there was a loan of 50 Million Dollars taken 20 years ago when the dollar exchanged at say, 100 Naira, the current value of that loan will be calculated at the current exchange value of the dollar. So if you calculate the current debt of the State, it would have gone far far beyond what Otti inherited, solely on accounting of foreign exchange differentials.

Secondly, Otti came on National TV to deny with a straight face that the Ikpeazu administration didn't pay any money to for the acquisition of equity in the Geometric Power Project.
Professor Barth Nnaji had also made that statement that Ikpeazu didn't pay. But when we produced documents evidencing the acknowledgement of receipt of the sum of 1.4 Billion Naira by Geometric, Professor Nnaji quickly beat a retreat and came clean.
Governor Otti till date has refused to acknowledge that any money was paid. If not for the sustained media pressure from us, Abians and the general public would have stuck with the false impression that no money was paid to Geometric Power by the Ikpeazu administration.. Today, the government and people of Abia State proudly own 3.5% shares in a company that is valued at 800 Million Dollars!

Another area where Otti has been economical with the truth is in the area of payment of pensions.
Few weeks ago, the Governor went to town with the news that he has cleared all pensions arrears in the State. But that was another lie.
What he did was to pay the arrears of the 60% he owed the pensioners since his tenure started. Upon assumption of office, Otti started paying pensioners 40% of their pensions. This continued for 9 months when he now paid off the aggregate of the 60% plus a random selection of some arrears. He now informed the pensioners that what he paid them was full and final.
His Commissioner for Finance, Mike Akpara confirmed this on a Radio show in Umuahia. They forced the leadership of the Union of Pensioners to forgo their other arrears.
Yes, pensioners were owed during our time, but they were paid some of their dues too. Otti is less than one year in office and this is not the first time pensioners are getting bulk payments in Abia State. Ikpeazu also made such bulk payments in his first tenure, during the Paris Club refunds and bail out funds era but never forced anyone to forgo their arrears.

Otti's administration is much more buoyant. More money is available to them. Petroleum subsidies were removed by the federal government during his time as Governor making states to get much more. He is paying far less in salaries on account of the sack of thousands of workers, the 8 year limit for Directors and the endless verification of workers which has proven to be a technique to yank workers off the payroll. As at today, hundreds of workers in Ministries who had completed the so called verification have not been paid for several months. These are workers whose salaries used to be sacrosanct.

When Otti sent an Executive Bill to repeal the Law that prescribed pensions for former Governors of the State, the Majority Leader of the State Assembly whose duty it is to introduce such Bills to the Assembly stated on the floor of the Assembly that the State has been "spending Billions of Naira every year to pay these former Governors". Meanwhile, none of the former Governors in the State from Orji Uzor Kalu tunder whose tenure the Bill was passed to Ikpeazu was paid a penny. Yet the impression created what that these former Governors have been receiving Billions. Otti is in love with mentioning Billions, real or imagined. A real Banker!

Otti's aversion for his predecessor is well known and has been elevated to a tool of State policy implementation.. Anything that has to do with Ikpeazu that is positive must either be suppressed or poisoned. The negatives must be blown out of proportion. Ikpeazu must be rubbished at all costs.
Ikpeazu built a brand new Multi Specialist Hospital at the premises of the Aba General Hospital and got it fully equipped with modern hospital equipment.. There is no state owned hospital that can match it in terms of equipment. It was duly commissioned for use by the people. Otti came in and locked up the place for no reason at all. He simply doesn't want any form of positive mention for Ikpeazu. He prefers to deny our people the use of such a solid health facility just to water his aversion for Ikpeazu.

The only reason why the Osisioma Flyover, Ikpeazu's signature project is standing today is because it will be difficult to pull it down. Instead, what they have done is to allow the environment to decay and rotten. The areas around the flyover have become a signpost for chaos and confusion. A motor park of sorts.

Otti has simply not forgiven Ikpeazu for defeating him in the 2015 and 2019 elections. We understand that but these are facts of history and no attempt at historical revisionism can change that. Never in the history of Nigerian politics has a sitting Governor displayed such naked show of aggression towards his successor. For Otti, Abia was created in 2015 and every Kobo Abia has earned since creation was stolen under Ikpeazu.
Otti should remember that he is a potential former Governor and when he leaves office, his portrait will always be placed after that of Ikpeazu. Again, he doesn't know who will succeed him. History has a funny way of repeating itself.

We await the audit report.

Sir Onyebuchi Ememanka is Spokesman to Okezie Ikpeazu, PhD, the immediate past Governor of Abia State.